This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act, the legislation that established the Superfund Research Program (SRP) within NIEHS. A cornerstone of the SRP is the P42 multiproject center grant program, which funds research at universities nationwide. SRP Centers investigate how environmental exposures affect human health, design strategies to reduce exposures, and identify opportunities to protect health by bringing together researchers from different fields.

The multiproject SRP Centers combine research projects rooted in environmental science and engineering with biomedical science to advance the center’s goals, supported by core elements of every SRP Center: data management and analysis, community engagement, research translation, and training for the next generation of environmental health scientists. This multidisciplinary expertise allows each SRP Center to investigate problems related to hazardous substances from every angle, and to use different perspectives, including concerns from affected communities, to tackle complex environmental health challenges. 

Our hope is that this collaborative research feeds into a larger scientific ecosystem, enabling us to connect the dots to better understand environmental health problems, answer difficult questions, and identify where prevention and intervention strategies can most effectively protect health.

This edition of the Science Digest focuses on the recent Progress in Research webinar series, which showcased research from the six multiproject SRP Centers funded in 2025. Awardees shared major accomplishments and novel approaches to overcoming complex challenges to environmental health and safety. Scientists also laid out their roadmaps for future research, highlighting exciting next steps. The webinars reached a wide range of audiences — from local, state, and federal leaders to health practitioners to community members — creating opportunities to showcase each SRP Center’s work and promote collaboration and feedback across sectors. 

The webinars offered an insightful glimpse into the research SRP Centers are pioneering to pave the way for a healthier future, and we are excited to continue supporting and promoting this work with the recent release of our Notice of Funding Opportunity (RFA-ES-27-004). 

While this issue features our P42 Centers, SRP also supports a broad spectrum of funding mechanisms, from early-stage awards (R03, R21) to individual research grants (R01) to small business innovation research opportunities (R43, R44, SB1). Visit our funding opportunities page to learn more about these programs.

Warm regards,

Michelle Heacock, Ph.D.
Director
Superfund Research Program