Environmental Health Disparities Research

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have announced a new joint funding opportunity titled “EPA-NIH Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research.”  This joint research program seeks to fund both basic and applied research to advance the understanding and mitigation of environmentally driven health disparities.  This opportunity comes from EPA’s National Center for Environmental Research (NCER), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). 

The joint solicitation notes that Centers should “propose to conduct original, innovative, multi- and trans-disciplinary research to advance understanding, mitigation and prevention of environmentally driven health disparities and to improve access to healthy and sustainable environments for vulnerable populations.”   Applications must address at least one of the following Research Priority Areas:

• Research Priority Area 1: “Cumulative Effects of Multi Environmental, Physical, and Social Stressors: How do the cumulative effects of exposures to multiple environmental chemical contaminants combine with the effects of social stressors to affect health?  What is the role of genetics and epigenetics in relation to environmental exposures and social stressors?  What multidisciplinary approaches or methods would best characterize these combined effects or interactions?”
• Research Priority Area 2: “Differential Exposures: How are different socioeconomic groups exposed differentially to environmental hazards and contaminants and what are the drivers for such exposures scenarios?  How does differential exposure information increase our understanding of environmental contributions to disproportionate impacts on health?”
• Research Priority Area 3: “Land Use Considerations and Health Disparities: How do different land uses and land use decision-making processes contribute to environmental health disparities?  What are the impacts of resource extraction on environmental health disparities?  What approaches could communities take to reduce or prevent impacts from land use that lead to environmental health disparities?”
• Research Priority Area 4: “Built Environment, Housing and Transportation: How does proximity to transportation infrastructure affect the levels and types of exposures?  How does poverty contribute to indoor and outdoor air pollution in residential settings?”
• Research Priority Area 5: “Environmental Sustainability and Health Disparities: How do sustainable approaches reduce disproportionate health burdens and build community resilience?  How will improvements in environmental health literacy enable sustainable lifestyle and community levels changes to improve health?”

EPA and NIH will be holding a webinar on the Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research for perspective applicants at 3:00 PM EST on November 24. Please visit https://webmeeting.nih.gov/peph/ at that time to join the webinar. 

Letters of Intent: Letters of intent are not required, but are encouraged by December 9. 

Due Date: Applications are due January 9, 2015.

Total Funding and Award Size:  EPA and NIH anticipate making five awards for up to $1 million per year for five years. 

Eligibility and Limitations: Eligible applicants include institutions of higher education, nonprofit institutions, and U.S. state and local governments. 

Sources and Additional Information:

• The solicitation is available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-ES-14-010.html.
• More information on the November 24 webinar is available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-ES-15-004.html.