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Environmental Factor – January 2023: American Indian and Alaska Native safety, health training showcased
The NIEHS Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH) network hosted a webinar highlighting organizations that train American Indian and Alaska Native workers and communities in hazardous materials safety, with funding from the NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP). The Dec. 7 webinar was the first of two PEPH webinars featuring WTP grantees and their efforts to deliver safety and health training to tribal communities. Helping underserved and rural tribes Riley discussed WRUC’s efforts and the hazards of disaster cleanup during a 2021 NIEHS Keystone Science Lecture. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Riley) WTP supports nonprofits across the U.S. that deliver training to workers who may face hazards on the job. WTP Director…
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Environmental Factor – January 2023: Transforming the understanding of human health and disease
NIEHS efforts have demonstrated how knowledge of the exposome, or the totality of our environmental exposures can be harnessed to transform research on human health and disease. Now, the publication of a high-impact, clinically relevant paper from a decades-long study of environmental exposures demonstrates that a framework known as precision environmental health is coming of age. Creating the evidence base Motsinger-Reif and Janet Hall, M.D., lead the PEGS initiative, which has enrolled more than 20,000 participants. To learn more, visit the PEGS website. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS) The Personalized Environment and Genes Study (PEGS) has collected health, family history, environmental exposures, and lifestyle data on more than…
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Environmental Factor – April 2022: Environmental health equity centered in implementing interventions
Environmental health scientists forged a new partnership with implementation scientists to discuss how, together, they might address challenges and improve environmental health equity, during a two-day workshop held on Feb. 28 and March 1. The Advancing Environmental Health Equity Through Implementation Science workshop was a joint effort among NIEHS and the following entities, which also are part of the National Institutes of Health. Martin, who was trained as a medical anthropologist, explained in this podcast interview several ways in which implementation science can be applied to the field of environmental health. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS) Workshop co-chairs included Lindsey Martin, Ph.D., a health scientist administrator in the…
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Environmental Factor – September 2022: Tribal environmental health strengthened by NIEHS-funded scientist and her team
Rick Woychik, Ph.D., directs NIEHS and the National Toxicology Program. (Image courtesy of NIEHS) For nearly three decades, Johnnye Lewis, Ph.D., has advanced Native American health by combining basic research, population-level studies, clear science communication, and robust partnerships with tribes. She is a longtime NIEHS grant recipient from the University of New Mexico (UNM), where she uses a transdisciplinary team approach to tackle issues related to environmental justice and health disparities, which affect many Indigenous communities. Lewis is a professor in the UNM Community Environmental Health Program, which she launched in 1996 to address tribal concerns about harmful exposures involving abandoned uranium mines, milling sites, and waste piles left from…
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Environmental Factor – September 2022: Children’s environmental health topic of NASEM, EPA workshop
Early-life vulnerability to environmental exposures was explored during a four-day National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) workshop, held Aug 1-4. “Children’s Environmental Health: A Workshop on Future Priorities for Environmental Health Sciences,” sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), featured several NIEHS scientists and grantees who shared their expertise, offered advice, and discussed how environmental health sciences can help inform policy. New research methods for risk assessment, ongoing and emerging environmental risks to children, and environmental influences across the lifespan were just some of the topics explored by workshop attendees. “Throughout this workshop, we learned how science is moving forward actual protections while also balancing uncertainty with…
