Scientific collaboration and cutting-edge technologies can advance environmental health sciences. The NIEHS Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) Core Centers Program facilitates these collaborations by funding institutional infrastructure to support scientific equipment, facilities, and other resources that can be shared among environmental health researchers. By pursuing shared research questions, the EHS Core Centers identify emerging issues that advance understanding about how pollutants and other environmental factors affect human biology and may lead to disease.

Currently, there are more than 20 centers across the country. Each center has its own strategic vision and scientific focus, but all share four common goals: advancing scientific research; promoting community engagement; advancing translational research; and training new researchers.

  • Rick Woychik with group of students

    Engaging Students in Community PFAS Testing

    Scientists from the NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Sciences Core Center at the University of Louisville teamed up with high school students to collect and test water samples for PFAS.

  • Two young Black women smiling and posing for a candid

    The Health Burden of Hair Care

    Scientists from the NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers at Harvard University and Columbia University are studying the factors that influence hair product use and how exposure to chemicals in these products may contribute to environmental health disparities among Black women.
  • flowers in front of an older home

    Howarth Talks Lead and Health in NIEHS Podcast

    Marilyn Howarth, M.D., discusses factors that contribute to high lead exposure in urban areas in an October 2023 NIEHS podcast. She also shares ways to reduce lead exposure at home and at the community level.Howarth directs Community Engagement Core within the University of Pennsylvania’s NIEHS-funded Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology.
  • Fernández and Leventhal

    Innovative Program Unlocks Environmental Health Field for Future Doctors and Nurses

    The NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Sciences Core Center at the University of California, San Francisco, created a program to help future doctors and nurses identify and treat environmental health issues in their patients.
  • pollution

    UW Core Center Researchers Work to Improve Air Quality for Washington Communities

    Researchers from the NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Science (EHS) Core Center at the University of Washington are collaborating with community partners to measure air pollution, study its health impacts, and test possible solutions to improve air quality. Their research runs the gamut, examining the health effects of air pollution in children and older adults as well as rural and urban populations.
  • woman sitting at table with a doctor

    Chemical Exposures Linked to Higher Cancer Odds in Women

    Women with certain cancers had higher levels of PFAS and phenol chemicals in their bodies compared to women without the disease, according to research published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. The study is the result of a collaboration among researchers from NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) Core Centers at the University of Southern California (USC), University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and the University of Michigan.
  • human brain

    University of Rochester Center Researchers Study Environment’s Role in Brain Health

    Researchers from the NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC) at the University of Rochester explore how exposure to environmental chemicals affects brain health. The scientists study how exposure to air pollution, pesticides, and PFAS may harm brain health across the life course – from disrupting early brain development to increasing Parkinson’s disease risk later in life.

About Core Centers

About the EHS Core Centers Program

Scientist collaborating on a computer
The mission of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is to discover how the environment affects people in order to promote healthier lives.

Community Engagement Cores

People in a meeting
The mission of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is to discover how the environment affects people in order to promote healthier lives.

Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers Grantees

Map of Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers Grantees
Funded by NIEHS | Search a directory of NIEHS funded environmental health sciences core centers

Center Spotlight

Engaging Students in Community PFAS Testing

Rick Woychik with group of students
When a high school chemistry teacher in western Kentucky learned about PFAS-contaminated water in her community, she wanted to encourage her students to help address this local environmental health issue. She connected with the NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Sciences Core Center at the University of Louisville, and together they developed a research project for students to collect and test water samples for PFAS.

The Health Burden of Hair Care

Two young Black women smiling and posing for a candid
Scientists from the NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) Core Centers at Harvard and Columbia University are studying the factors that influence hair product use and how exposure to chemicals in these products may contribute to environmental health disparities among Black women.

Howarth Talks Lead and Health in NIEHS Podcast

Howarth Talks
Marilyn Howarth, M.D., discusses factors that contribute to high lead exposure in urban areas in an October 2023 NIEHS podcast. She also shares ways to reduce lead exposure at home and at the community level.Howarth directs Community Engagement Core within the University of Pennsylvania’s NIEHS-funded Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology.

Innovative Program Unlocks Environmental Health Field for Future Doctors and Nurses

doctor
Healthcare professionals often feel unprepared to recognize and address how exposure to environmental contaminants affects patients’ health. To address this knowledge gap, the NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Sciences Core Center at the University of California, San Francisco created the Environmental Scholars Program. The program helps future doctors and nurses identify and treat health issues stemming from environmental exposures and a changing climate.The program helps doctors and nurses identify and address health issues stemming from environmental exposures and a changing climate.

UW Core Center Researchers Work to Improve Air Quality for Washington Communities

pollution
Researchers from the NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Science (EHS) Core Center at the University of Washington are collaborating with community partners to measure air pollution, study its health impacts, and test possible solutions to improve air quality. Their research runs the gamut, examining the health effects of air pollution in children and older adults as well as rural and urban populations.

Chemical Exposures Linked to Higher Cancer Odds in Women

doctor and patient
Women with certain cancers had higher levels of PFAS and phenol chemicals in their bodies compared to women without the disease, according to research published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. The study is the result of a collaboration among researchers from NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) Core Centers at the University of Southern California (USC), University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and the University of Michigan.

University of Rochester Center Researchers Study Environment’s Role in Brain Health

human brain
Researchers from the NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC) at the University of Rochester explore how exposure to environmental chemicals affects brain health. The scientists study how exposure to air pollution, pesticides, and PFAS may harm brain health across the life course – from disrupting early brain development to increasing Parkinson’s disease risk later in life.