Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers
The EHS Core Centers Program funds centralized scientific resources and facilities that are shared among researchers at a single institution. The team science environment fosters innovation and productivity beyond what individual scientists are likely to achieve. Each center is built around an overall strategic research vision and includes:
- An Administrative Core,
- An Integrated Health Sciences Facility Core,
- A Community Engagement Core,
- Other optional facility cores.
Components interact to address the vision and central questions of the center. Click on a component to learn more about its role within a center.

The Administrative Core uses pilot projects to support short-term projects to explore the feasibility of new areas of study, and/or to provide opportunities for investigators from other disciplines to apply their expertise to environmental health research and environmental medicine.
Oversees coordination and integration of all center components and activities.
The Administrative Core brings in and cultivates careers of new investigators. Centers provide new investigators with assistance, guidance, and opportunities that enable them to achieve independent status.
The Administrative Core creates a multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary research environment by bringing together researchers to innovate around environmental health research themes or questions.
Builds and sustains dialogue between the center and community partners. Community Engagement Cores increase awareness of environmental health by translating and disseminating center research findings, and helping researchers understand which environmental health issues are important to their community partners.
Supports center research by equipping teams of investigators with technologies, services, or instrumentation that will enhance research progress. Facility Cores provide resources and expertise for statistical support, imaging, analytical chemistry, exposure assessment, and more. They also play an important role in developing new methodologies and training and educating center members.
Provides the instrumentation and technologies to facilitate progression of environmental health sciences into information that can be used by affected communities for improved public health, and/or clinical practice. Translational Research Support fosters collaboration among laboratory-based, epidemiological and clinical researchers; community engagement experts; and public health practitioners.
Click on the graphic below to learn more about each component's role within a center.

Administrative Core
Oversees coordination and integration of all center components and activities.
Career Development
The Administrative Core brings in and cultivates careers of new investigators. Centers provide new investigators with assistance, guidance, and opportunities that enable them to achieve independent status.
Community Engagement
Builds and sustains dialogue between the center and community partners. Community Engagement Cores increase awareness of environmental health by translating and disseminating center research findings, and helping researchers understand which environmental health issues are important to their community partners.
Facility Cores
Supports center research by equipping teams of investigators with technologies, services, or instrumentation that will enhance research progress. Facility Cores provide resources and expertise for statistical support, imaging, analytical chemistry, exposure assessment, and more. They also play an important role in developing new methodologies and training and educating center members.
Translational Research Support
Provides the instrumentation and technologies to facilitate progression of environmental health sciences into information that can be used by affected communities for improved public health, and/or clinical practice. Translational Research Support fosters collaboration among laboratory-based, epidemiological and clinical researchers; community engagement experts; and public health practitioners.
Pilot Projects
The Administrative Core uses pilot projects to support short-term projects to explore the feasibility of new areas of study, and/or stimulate to provide opportunities for investigators from other disciplines to apply their expertise to environmental health research and environmental medicine.
Science Themes
The Administrative Core creates a multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary research environment by bringing together researchers to innovate around environmental health research themes or questions.
Goals of an EHS Core Center
Advance Scientific Research:
Centers provide a collaborative environment for researchers to exchange ideas and perspectives. Access to Facility Cores drives the development of new techniques and methodologies. This team approach to science leads to novel, innovative research that would be difficult for a researcher to accomplish on his or her own.
Promote Community Engagement
Community Engagement Cores (CECs) translate and disseminate center research results into information community members, decision makers, public health professionals, and educators can use to protect and improve public health. This is accomplished by sharing research findings with community partners and conveying concerns back to center researchers so they are aware of the issues important to the community.
Advance Translational Research
Specialized cores called Integrated Health Science Facility Cores (IHSFCs) promote collaboration among basic scientists, clinical researchers, community engagement experts, and public health practitioners. These collaborations facilitate translation of basic mechanistic and toxicological research into knowledge and information that can be used to improve public health or clinical practices.
Support the Next Generation
Centers provide young investigators with the training, mentoring, resources, and opportunities necessary to enhance their skills to become independent and successful researchers.
Core Centers Evaluation Documents
An evaluation of the EHS Core Center program was completed in 2015 with the involvement of an Evaluation Advisory Subcommittee. The final evaluation report from the Subcommittee and the executive summary are provided below.
Program Team
Program Director
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Claudia Thompson, Ph.D.
Branch Chief;
Population Health Branch -
Tel 984-287-3330
Fax 919-541-4937
thompso1@niehs.nih.gov -
P.O. Box 12233Mail Drop K3-04Durham, N.C. 27709
CEC Coordinator
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Liam O'Fallon, M.A.
Health Specialist -
P.O. Box 12233Mail Drop K3-12Durham, N.C. 27709
Tel 984-287-3298
Fax 919-316-4606
ofallon@niehs.nih.gov
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Toccara A. Chamberlain
Health Specialist -
530 Davis Dr
530 Davis Drive (Keystone Bldg)
Durham, NC 27713
Tel 984-287-4482
toccara.chamberlain@nih.gov
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Varsha Shukla, Ph.D.
Scientific Review Officer -
P.O. Box 12233Mail Drop K3-05Durham, N.C. 27709
Tel 984-287-3288
Fax 301-480-5217
varsha.shukla@nih.gov
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James R. Williams
Lead Grants Management Officer -
P.O. Box 12233Mail Drop K3-05Durham, N.C. 27709
Tel 984-287-3338
Fax 919-541-2860
james.williams3@nih.gov
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