Director’s Message
Hans-Joachim Lehmler, PhD
Director
Welcome to the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center (EHSRC) website! As the EHSRC enters its 36th year of funding, we conjoin 25 other national environmental health sciences core centers funded by the NIEHS. Our distinction as a center among them is our focus on advancing and translating research that addresses environmental health problems across the urban-rural continuum. Rural America faces unique environmental challenges from exposure to farm chemicals, air and water pollution from livestock and agricultural production, rural manufacturing, and the green energy economy. The EHSRC is at the forefront of research in rural environmental health, determining the role of innate immunity and the inflammasome in lung disease; the role of the microbiome in health and disease; state-of-the-art biomedical imaging with advanced computational modeling to assess the effect of inhaled toxicants; and applications for distributed sensor networks and data analytics for exposure monitoring. Our interdisciplinary investigators apply innovations, for example, in advanced -omics technologies, population-based animal models, and advanced lung imaging, to advance this research.
The research of the EHSRC is organized around its Thematic Areas and supported by three facilities, the Translational Research Support Core (TRSC), Exposure Science Facility (ESF), and Pulmonary Toxicology Facility (PTF). These facilities provide cost-effective and cutting-edge services and state-of-the-art equipment. An Administrative Core provides transformative leadership, leverages institutional support, and manages highly effective Pilot Grant and Career Enhancement Programs that provide resources and mentoring to advance the careers of promising and early-stage investigators. The Community Engagement Core engages the Center’s audiences to ensure the relevance of EHSRC research and, in collaboration with the TRSC, translates research to environmental public health.
EHSRC Strategic Vision
The EHSRC vision is to be the primary environmental health sciences (EHS) resource for improving the health of residents across the rural-urban continuum in the agricultural heartland of the United States through innovative environmental health sciences research. This is accomplished by enhancing the careers of Center investigators and through our translational research vision to translate new insights from rural exposures, pathways of toxicity, disease, and repair, and from precision environmental health into environmental health literacy, public health practice, regulatory policy, and new clinical treatments.
Center Theme, Goals and Specific Aims
Center Theme:
The overarching theme of the EHSRC is research and engagement that addresses the adverse health effects of current and emerging environmental contaminants, especially among rural and agricultural populations. Following this overall theme, and building on its 36-year history, the EHSRC will pursue the following Goals to strengthen the EHS research capacity in the US agricultural heartland and beyond:
Goals and Specific Aims:
Goal 1) Enhance the effectiveness of environmental health sciences research and extend the focus of research in five Thematic Areas, including Inflammation and Innate Immunity, Particle Science, Population Health, Systemic and Redox Toxicology, and Water Quality.
To achieve this Goal, the EHSRC will:
1) Host thematic enhancement activities, such as seminars, Thematic Area and Special Interest Group meetings, and retreats, to promote interaction and generate innovative ideas among current and potential Center Members;
2) Promote novel research directions for EHSRC investigators by fostering cross-Center collaborations;
3) Build programmatic and scientific capacity by supporting state-of-the-art Facilities to provide the latest research equipment, techniques, and expertise; and
4) Operate a rigorous, competitive Pilot Grant Program (PGP) to develop new research initiatives, support the career enhancement of early-stage investigators (ESIs), establish new collaborations, develop new research directions, and address the needs of our rural stakeholders.
Goal 2) Recruit, mentor, and nurture a broad group of investigators interested in the environmental health sciences, with an emphasis on recruiting and developing future leaders in the field.
To attain this Goal, the EHSRC will:
1) Recruit, mentor, and nurture a diverse and collaborative group of investigators interested in EHS;
2) Maintain and enhance a Career Enhancement Program (CEP) that supports promising ESIs from different backgrounds through mentoring, research and salary support, and the use of EHSRC Facilities;
3) Provide a comprehensive range of career enhancement opportunities designed to support ESIs, mid-career faculty, senior scientists, and community-engaged researchers; and
4) Improve the knowledge and comfort of all Center Members and their trainees with community engagement.
Goal 3) Engage with communities and other audiences to translate research knowledge toward improving the health and environment of rural people in the US agricultural heartland and beyond.
To achieve this Goal, the EHSRC will:
1) Conduct workshops, public meetings, and other engagement programs and produce science-based environmental health resources and knowledge relevant to America’s rural heartland by engaging stakeholders through the CEC;
2) Foster collaborative translational research among basic researchers, physician-researchers, researchers conducting population-based studies, and community-engaged researchers to broadly impact rural environmental, clinical, and public health through the CEC and TRSC; and
3) Serve NIEHS, the region, and the nation as an authoritative body on rural environmental health issues.
