Notice Number: NOT-ES-08-002
Key Dates
Release Date: November 23, 2007
Response Date: January 19, 2008
Issued by
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
(NIEHS), (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/)
Purpose
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is developing a unified program referred to as Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH) that will support a variety of research, outreach and education activities to prevent, reduce, or eliminate environmental exposures that may lead to adverse health outcomes in communities, with the active engagement of those communities in all stages of the work.
This Request for Information (RFI) is directed toward establishing a vision for the PEPH Program. NIEHS is seeking input from the lay public, environmental health researchers, healthcare professionals, educators, policy makers and others with a vested interest in the effects of environmental exposures on public health.
NIEHS currently envisions that this program would build upon the strengths of past and current research programs, as well as trans-NIH program announcements in this area, and:
- support hypothesis-driven research that engages community partners;
- support research to improve the theories and methods for working with communities to address environmental health concerns; and
- develop, implement and disseminate educational and outreach materials for use in communities.
Background
Since 1994, NIEHS has supported diverse research and outreach programs that required partnerships with and among a variety of stakeholders. Goals for these programs have included (1) development of materials to educate and increase community awareness of environmental health, (2) development of new approaches to engage the community in the research process, and (3) support of hypothesis driven research projects where community residents are full partners in the research endeavor.
Programs have included:
- Breast Cancer and Environment Research Centers
- Centers for Children’s Environmental Health
- Centers for Population Health and Health Disparities
- Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR)
- Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers: Community Outreach and Education Program
- Environmental Justice: Partnerships for Communication
- Ethical, Legal and Social Implications
- Health Disparities Program
- Obesity and the Built Environment
- K-12 Science Education Program
- Superfund Basic Research Program Outreach and Education
- Worker Education and Training Program
Definition of Community: For the purpose of this RFI, community refers to populations and groups affected by, or with a shared interest in, environmental exposures and related health outcomes. Populations may be defined by: geography; race; ethnicity; gender; age; occupation; religion; sexual orientation; disability, illness, or other health condition.
Groups may include lay public groups with public health concerns, health or service agencies and organizations, researchers, health care or public health practitioners or providers, policy makers, or educational institutions.
Information Requested
The questions below will be used to shape a 5-10 year plan to promote and advance partnerships for environmental public health. NIEHS encourages out of the box, innovative, visionary ideas and comments to help revitalize, stimulate and shape the NIEHS unified Partnerships for Environmental Public Health Program. All questions are optional, please respond as applicable to your concerns or needs.
- What are your needs to address the effects of environmental exposures on public health?
- Where are the new and/or best opportunities for NIEHS to be engaged in the following areas? What are the roadblocks? (2.A) Development of educational and outreach materials for the following audiences: lay public, students and teachers, healthcare professionals, researchers, policy makers, other groups (2.B) Research: such as - Biomedical research (population-based, intervention, prevention, translational, behavioral), Evaluation research (methods for evaluating public health and science education activities), Communication/Dissemination research (Health literacy strategies), and Other research
- What are the highest priority tools or resources needed to facilitate the opportunities or overcome the challenges you identified in Question 2?
- What scientific themes, exposures, health outcomes, or other issues are most important to address in this program? What issues should NOT be addressed?
- What specific research approaches (existing and novel) should be a part of this broad-based program?
- What new partnerships need to be developed for the PEPH Program? How can existing partnerships be strengthened?
- To help us better understand your perspective, please mark the following
set of boxes that best describe you. This information will only be used
for the purposes of organizing the data and will not be used for other reasons.
- A NIEHS/NIH grantee
- A partner on an NIEHS-funded project
From the following Audience:
- Lay Public
- EHS Researcher
- Healthcare professional
- Policymaker
- Other: ____________
Responses
Please send responses to Mr. Liam O Fallon (ofallon@niehs.nih.gov) no later than January 19, 2008. The following are acceptable ways to submit your responses:
- Download interactive Adobe Acrobat form that can be completed and submitted electronically;
- Copy and paste the questions into the body of an e-mail message and send your responses to ofallon@niehs.nih.gov; or
- Mail or fax your responses in a letter to the attention of Mr. O Fallon at the below address.
Inquiries
Direct inquiries regarding this Notice to:
Mr. Liam R. O'Fallon
Program Analyst
Division of Extramural Research and Training
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
P.O. Box 12233 (MD EC-21)
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
(T) 919-541-7733
(F) 919-316-4606
(E) ofallon@niehs.nih.gov
and Human Services (HHS)
