Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH)

The Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH) includes programs led by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), as well as other institutes and centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This webpage lists the programs that are currently part of the PEPH Network, and it will change as new programs emerge and others conclude.

NIEHS-Sponsored Programs

Research

Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research

The Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research program is a collaborative effort supported by NIEHS, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that encourages basic, biological, clinical, epidemiological, behavioral, and/or social scientific investigations of disease conditions that are known to be a significant burden in low socioeconomic and health disparate populations.

Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers

The NIEHS/EPA Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers, or Children's Centers, study how complex interactions between the environment, genetics, and other factors affect children's health. In addition to scientific studies, each center collaborates with various community partners and organizations to inform, advance, and disseminate information for public health protection.

Community-Engaged Research and Citizen Science

NIEHS has long supported community participation in the research process and continues to encourage new research approaches that foster collaboration between communities and scientists while building capacity to address environmental health concerns. The institute is also actively involved in recent federal efforts aimed at encouraging the use of citizen science.

Disaster Research Response

Building on lessons learned from previous disaster response efforts, including the World Trade Center attack, Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, and the Gulf oil spill, NIEHS, the National Library of Medicine, and other Health and Human Services agencies have established the NIH Disaster Research Response Program to enhance the timely collection of human data during disasters.

Environmental Health Disparities & Environmental Justice

NIEHS is committed to reducing environmental health disparities. Over the past two decades, NIEHS has supported numerous research programs, community-engaged activities, and training and education programs to address the disparate health impacts of environmental hazards on disadvantaged communities and to ensure environmental health equity.

Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers

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.

Global Environmental Health

NIEHS recognizes that because environmental health problems cross national boundaries, conducting studies around the world benefits not just those in the areas being studied but all people who suffer from the same or related environmental health problems.

Oceans and Human Health

NIEHS and the National Science Foundation jointly fund research on marine-related health issues through the Centers for Oceans and Human Health and through individual research projects focusing on oceans and human health, as well as the Great Lakes and human health.

Research to Action

Research to Action is a program whose purpose is to bring together community members and environmental and health researchers to investigate the potential health risks of environmental exposures that are of concern to the community. Collaborative research activities such as data collection and translation of research into public health action are required components of this initiative.

Superfund Research Program

The Superfund Research Program funds university-based grants on basic biological, environmental, and engineering processes to find real and practical solutions to exposures to hazardous substances. These activities complement the work of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and other federal and state agencies.

Training and Supplements

Environmental Health Science Education

The purpose of the science education projects has been to improve overall academic performance as well as enhance students' comprehension of and interest in environmental health sciences. These programs have provided teachers with opportunities for professional development so that they can learn to use the curricular materials effectively in the classroom. Grantees have developed many innovative and engaging standards-based curricular materials.

Summer Research Experiences for Students and Science Teachers: Administrative Supplement

Researchers with R01, R21, R15, R35, R37, or P01 awards may be eligible for administrative supplements to support summer research experiences in the environmental health sciences for high school students, college undergraduates, master's degree candidates, medical students, secondary school science teachers, and science professors from primarily undergraduate or AREA/R15-eligible institutions. Administrative supplements must support work within the scope of the original grant project.

Worker Training Program

The Worker Training Program funds nonprofit organizations with a demonstrated track record of providing high-quality occupational safety and health training to workers involved in handling hazardous materials or in responding to emergency releases of hazardous materials.

NIH Wide Programs

Research

Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) of Genomic Research

This program develops policies dealing with issues arising from the Environmental Genome Project, such as the protection of human subjects, the privacy of genetic information, and the possible discriminatory use of project data. See the full solicitation for the R01, R03, and R21 grant mechanisms.

Training and Supplements

Supplements to Promote Reentry into Biomedical Research

This program is intended to encourage individuals with high potential to reenter an active research career after taking time off to care for children or to attend to other family responsibilities. Principal investigators with funded, eligible grants from NIEHS may apply for administrative supplements to support full-time or part-time research by individuals reentering the workforce.