Environmental Health Sciences Research Center
University of Iowa College of Public Health
PFAS and TCE are the two newest fact sheets that have been released by the EHSRC. These resources cover different environmental contaminants and how they affect health (cancer and non-cancer health risks) and what people can do to protect themselves. View all of the fact sheets here on our resources page. The full packet is available as well as each individual contaminant (Arsenic, Atrazine, Glyphosate, Nitrate, PFAS, Radon, and TCE).
Dr. Michael Welsh, Professor of Internal Medicine and longtime EHSRC member, has won the 2025 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for his fundamental research on cystic fibrosis (CF), which paved the way to new therapies that have transformed the health and life expectancy of people with CF.
Lasker Awards, sometimes called “America’s Nobels,” are among the world’s most prestigious biomedical and clinical research awards.
Welsh shares the award with Jesús (Tito) González (formerly, Vertex Pharmaceuticals) and Paul A. Negulescu (Vertex Pharmaceuticals) for their key roles in developing a novel treatment for CF – a triple-drug combination that saves the lives of people with this lethal genetic disease.
Due September 15, 2025
The Environmental Health Sciences Research Center (EHSRC) at the University of Iowa is pleased to announce funding available of up to $10,000 available to facilitate community engaged and translational research related to environmental health.
The EHSRC has released a new fact sheet detailing its role in environmental health sciences research aimed at protecting Iowans’ health. Funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the EHSRC is the only environmental health research center in the Great Plains/Midwest region. We focus on pressing state and regional issues including:
Click here to view the fact sheet
Environmental health sciences research is an economic powerhouse in Iowa, with $2.38 in economic activity for every dollar invested. The economic benefits from EHSRC include:
The yearly training titled “Enhancing Your Research with Equitable Community Engagement” is seeking proposals for lightning talks (7-10 mins).
This call is open to anyone in the University of Iowa community (students, staff, faculty, post-docs, community partner) and the topic is community engagement in a Public Health project. The event will be the morning of June 25th.
Please submit your proposal using the qualtrics form by Monday April 21st. https://uiowa.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6ljGTFz3wLtLTng
Proposal components: Title of proposed talk, describe the project (200 words or less), and describe the community engagement component (100 words or less)
This event is sponsored by the Community Engagement Cores of the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center and Iowa Superfund Research Program.
Questions? Email Jackie Curnick at jcurnick@uiowa.edu
Chronic diseases including cancer, diabetes, Parkinson’s Disease, chronic respiratory disease, and childhood neurodevelopmental disorders have increased dramatically in the United States over the past few decades. Research shows that these diseases are linked to environmental factors such as air pollution, microplastics, and harmful chemical exposures.
The P30 Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), an institute in the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have released a fact sheet describing the essential role we play in combatting chronic diseases.
Click here to view the fact sheet
NIEHS is at the forefront of conducting research that protects public health by revealing how environmental factors impact health and disease and supporting communities in responding to environmental disasters such as chemical spills and extreme weather events like hurricanes. NIEHS P30 environmental health research centers are at the core of this mission by advancing scientific understanding, addressing emerging public health threats, improving community health, and reducing health care costs.
NIH’s $47 billion investment in research in 2023 resulted in nearly double the economic activity, at $92 billion. NIEHS’ 2025 budget request is only 2 percent of this total, about $917 million. But the return on these dollars far exceeds this small investment. Environmental health research also informs public health policy actions, which can yield $1.25 to $39 for every $1 invested.
Click here for more details on how our environmental health research saves lives and boosts the economy.