The mission of NIEHS is to research how the environment affects biological systems across the lifespan and to translate this knowledge to reduce disease and promote human health.
The studies conducted at NIEHS are often long term and high risk in nature and involve unique components, such as epidemiological studies of environmentally associated diseases, toxicological testing of environmental substances and intervention and prevention studies to reduce the effects of exposures to hazardous environments.
NIEHS trains over 200 fellows and post-doctoral scientists on-site annually.
Intramural Research Division
There are 11 Branches and Laboratories in the Intramural Research Division. Intramural researchers work in the following research areas:
- Administrative and Research Services Branch
- Biostatistics and Computational Biology Laboratory
- Clinical Research Branch
- Comparative Medicine Branch
- Epidemiology Branch
- Epigenetics and RNA Biology Laboratory
- Genome Integrity and Structural Biology Laboratory
- Immunity, Inflammation, and Disease Laboratory
- Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory
- Neurobiology Laboratory
- Reproductive and Developmental Biology Laboratory
Translational Toxicology Division
NIEHS Division of Translational Toxicology (DTT) scientists use a variety of traditional and cutting-edge approaches to better understand how factors in our environment may affect our health.
The division supports the National Toxicology Program (NTP), an interagency partnership that includes NIEHS, the National Center for Toxicological Research of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NIEHS Director Rick Woychik, Ph.D., also serves as NTP Director, and the program is headquartered at NIEHS.
DTT efforts are guided by a strategic planning framework and carried out by researchers in the following five branches:
- Comparative & Molecular Pathogenesis Branch
- Integrative Health Assessments Branch
- Mechanistic Toxicology Branch
- Predictive Toxicology Branch
- Systems Toxicology Branch
Trevor Archer, Ph.D., is DTT Scientific Director and Associate Director of NTP. He oversees five offices that provide operations support for DTT research.
Clinical Research
NIEHS supports and conducts clinical studies to determine how exposure to chemicals or other agents in the environment may influence a variety of diseases. Our Join a Health Study or Clinical Trial webpage has information for participants.
The Clinical Research Branch works with patients in two facilities:
- Clinical Research Unit ("/Rhythmyx/assembler/render?sys_contentid=28652&sys_revision=4&sys_variantid=639&sys_context=0&sys_authtype=0&sys_siteid=&sys_folderid=" sys_dependentvariantid="639" sys_dependentid="28652" inlinetype="rxhyperlink" rxinlineslot="103" sys_dependentid="28652" sys_siteid="" sys_folderid="") in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
- NIEHS at the NIH Clinical Center ("/Rhythmyx/assembler/render?sys_contentid=28707&sys_revision=3&sys_variantid=639&sys_context=0&sys_authtype=0&sys_siteid=&sys_folderid=" sys_dependentvariantid="639" sys_dependentid="28707" inlinetype="rxhyperlink" rxinlineslot="103" sys_dependentid="28707" sys_siteid="" sys_folderid="") in Bethesda, Maryland
Additionally, the Office of Human Research Compliance provides ethical and regulatory oversight of research that involves human subjects.
At NIEHS, our scientists are highly interactive and are often engaged in interdisciplinary research that encourages novel ideas, innovative hypotheses, and new paradigms.