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Principal Investigator: Charles A. Easley
Organization: MOREHOUSE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $203,338
Funding agency: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Project Summary
This new application seeks NIEHS RISE (R25) sponsorship for our innovative advanced program entitled
“Frontiers in Environmental Science and Human Health (FrESH)” to train and mentor promising graduates,
medical students, post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty from predominantly underrepresented communities in
sophisticated technologies in Environmental Health Science Research research. This proposal is responsive to
RFA-ES-20-015 as its main goal is to create educational opportunities for graduate students, medical students,
postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty in areas of environmental health science research pertinent to the NIEHS,
while fostering the career development of these students and fellows. A major strength of FrESH is that it draws
from underrepresented minority (URM) applicant pools; The Atlanta University Center (AUC) which includes
Morehouse College, Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University, which is the largest consortium of black
institutions of higher education in the USA as well as Hispanic and Native American Serving Institutions.
Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) is linked directly to these institutions through a formal system of pipeline
programs. In addition, we plan to draw URM’s from other institutions regardless of their URM population size.
Our target population is diverse and among the most promising nationally competitive trainees. FrESH offers
dynamic training through a series of daily lecturers on emerging concepts, extended discussion, laboratory
research, workshops and informal seminars for a week-long summer course. The primary aim is the development
of an intense laboratory-based training for 16 participants per year to educate them in Environmental Health
Science, and to help launch and sustain their careers. We propose a five-year program to enroll a total of eighty
(80) trainees (16 trainees per year) for training at MSM. In summary, FrESH will offer dynamic and sophisticated
training courses that consist of daily lectures from leading experts, active learning sessions, and extended
discussions on important and emerging topics followed by hands-on laboratory sessions. Examples of topics
within FrESH include: disparate impacts of air pollutants, water pollutants, and common persistent pollutants
such as flame retardants and pesticides; gene x environment interactions in driving health outcomes; exposome
and lifetime exposure impacts on human health; impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on human exposures to
environmental toxicants; and dissemination and implementation strategies to engage health care providers to
consider environmental contaminants in diagnoses and treatments, especially with regard to URM patients.
Terms: <Active Learning><Address><Air Pollutants><Area><Automobile Driving><COVID-19 pandemic affected><COVID-19 pandemic consequence><COVID-19 pandemic effects><COVID-19 pandemic impact><COVID-19 pandemic impacted><Collaborations><Communities><Cooperative Learning><Development><Diagnosis><Disparities><Disparity><Dissemination and Implementation><Doctor of Philosophy><Ecological impact><Education><Educational aspects><Educational workshop><Enrollment><Environment><Environmental Health><Environmental Health Science><Environmental Impact><Environmental Pollutants><Environmental Science><Environmental Toxin><Ethics><Experiential Learning><Exposure to><Faculty><Fire Retardants><Flame Retardants><Fostering><Funding><Future><Gene x Environment Interaction><Goals><GxE interaction><Health><Health Care Providers><Health Disparities Research><Health Personnel><Health disparities related research><Healthcare Providers><Healthcare worker><Hispanic Americans><Human><Individual><Individuals from minority><Individuals of minority><Inequity><Institution><Instruction><Investments><Knowledge><Laboratories><Laboratory Research><Legal><Letters><Link><MD students><Medical Students><Mentors><Mind><Minority Graduate Student><Minority Groups><Minority People><Minority Population><Minority individual><Mission><Modeling><Modern Man><Morehouse Sch of Medicine><Morehouse School of Med><Morehouse School of Medicine><NIEHS><NIH><National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences><National Institutes of Health><Native Americans><Outcome><Participant><Pesticides><Ph.D.><PhD><Population Sizes><Postdoc><Postdoctoral Fellow><Research><Research Associate><Scientist><Senior Scientist><Series><Solid><Students><System><Target Populations><Technology><Toxic Environmental Agents><Toxic Environmental Substances><Training><URM student><Underrepresented Ethnic Minority><Underrepresented Minority><United States National Institutes of Health><Universities><Water Pollutants><Workshop><career><career development><college><collegiate><coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic consequence><coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic impact><cost effective><design><designing><developmental><disparate effect><disparate impact><disparate result><driving><education research><effects following the COVID-19 pandemic><enroll><environment effect on gene><environmental contaminant><environmental toxicant><ethical><experience><exposed human population><frontier><gene environment interaction><graduate student><hands on research><health care personnel><health care worker><health disparities science><health provider><health science research><health workforce><healthcare personnel><higher education><human exposure><impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic><implementation strategy><inequitable effect><inequitable impact><inequitable outcome><innovate><innovation><innovative><lecturer><lectures><medical personnel><medical school students><meeting><meetings><minority communities><minority graduate><minority patient><minority scientist><next generation><novel><outcome disparities><outcome inequality><outcome inequity><pandemic><pandemic disease><patients from minority><patients of minority><pollutant><post-doc><post-doctoral><post-doctoral trainee><programs><recruit><research associates><response><science education><skill acquisition><skill development><strategies for implementation><treatment provider><under-representation of minorities><under-represented minority><underrepresentation of minorities><underrepresented minority student><unequal effect><unequal impact><unequal outcome><water contaminant>