The National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency have awarded five-year grants to five research centers to study how various environmental factors affect health in communities.
NIH said Wednesday the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and EPA’s National Center for Environmental Research funded the designated Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research.
“More than a decade of NIH research has shown that low-income, minority and tribal communities experience higher levels of environmental pollution in the United States, and that these populations often have poorer health,” said NIEHS Director Linda Birnbaum.
Scientists from each center will collaborate with community organizations to examine factors that affect health in those communities such as air, water and ground pollution, housing, diet and social dynamics, NIH added.
The agency further said community partners will help scientists formulate research questions, recruit study participants, collect data and turn research results into strategies that could address health issues.
The research centers are:
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston University School of Public Health
- Johns Hopkins University
- University of Arizona
- University of New Mexico
- University of Southern California
