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Principal Investigator: ROB S MCCONNELL
Organization: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $1,643,495
Funding agency: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
OVERALL: PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The mission of the Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center (SCEHSC) is to develop the
scientific knowledge base, investigator teams, and community engagement needed to reduce the burden of
diseases and disability from environmental impacts. The SCEHSC explores the effects of environmental
exposures across the lifecourse with an emphasis on susceptible populations, critical developmental periods,
and major diseases which are mediated through shared molecular and biological pathways. The SCEHSC’s
theme is Environmental Exposures, Host Factors and Human Disease across the Lifecourse. Scientifically,
the SCEHSC is organized around six Environmental Health Research Programs: two Methods Research
Programs (Exposure Sciences; Biostatistics & Data Science) and four Health Outcomes Research Programs
(Cardiorespiratory; Neurological; Obesity & Metabolic; Cancer). The Research Programs are led by collaborative
multidisciplinary teams and supported by the SCEHSC’s Administrative and three Facility Cores. The Community
Engagement Core promotes multidirectional science communication with community partners and the public.
The SCEHSC fosters innovative research in environmental health sciences (EHS) using the Pilot Projects
Program, state-of-the-art Facility Cores, and collaborative mechanisms including seminar series, workshops and
symposia, working groups, retreats, and career development activities. Over the past 24 years, the SCEHSC
has functioned as an integrated program of research excellence. We have a strong research base in EHS as
demonstrated by ongoing peer-reviewed research projects. Our EHS identity has been further distinguished by
our success in bringing together multidisciplinary research teams tackling compelling and complex issues in
EHS, attracting new and accomplished investigators to EHS, and fostering new lines of research. The SCEHSC
is a national leader in community engagement, improving environmental health literacy and employing innovative
approaches for community involvement and multi-directionally communicating EHS research results. This
engagement with community organizations, policymakers, the public health community, social and traditional
media, and the general public has a proven track record of fostering solutions-oriented and sustainable policy.
In the renewal period, we propose to build on these approaches to promote cutting-edge science, translational
research, and community engagement, and to develop the next generation of EHS leaders. The SCEHSC’s
mission, theme, structure, goals, strategic approaches, and future directions will contribute to advancing many
elements of the NIEHS Strategic Plan. The broad spectrum of expertise among our diverse membership’s strong
track record in collaborative multidisciplinary research, career development, and solutions-oriented community
engagement position the SCEHSC to effectively address today’s critical problems and tomorrow’s emerging
EHS challenges.
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