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Through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, NIEHS supports small businesses in the development of innovative applications to transform, translate, and communicate environmental health research to improve public health.

The NIEHS SBIR/STTR program helps bring technologies to market that:

  • Detect exposures to environmental hazards.
  • Improve understanding of environmental health science concepts.
  • Increase worker health and safety.
  • Provide innovative test systems for understanding the effects of toxicants on cells and tissues.
  • Remove contaminants from soil, water, or air.

What Is NIEHS Doing?

NIEHS SBIR/STTR program areas include:

  • Technologies for characterizing biological responses to environmental stressors.
  • Technologies for measuring exposure to environmental agents and for integrating exposure and response.
  • New applications for nanotechnology to address environmental health issues as well as methods and technologies to assess exposures to engineered nanomaterials.
  • Novel methods for measuring internal dose of environmental agents and their metabolites.
  • Improved test systems for assessing or predicting the toxicity of environmental agents, including alternative systems and computational approaches that reduce animal use in toxicity testing.
  • Novel approaches and tools that build capacity and improve understanding of environmental health topics.
  • Innovation in e-Learning in worker education and training.
  • Commercialization of innovative remediation and detection technologies for use at Superfund sites.

For more details about NIEHS clinical trial topics and nonclinical trial funding topics and opportunities, see pages 90-99 of the SBIR/STTR NIH, CDC, and FDA, Program Descriptions and Research Topics document.

For additional NIEHS SBIR/STTR application resources, visit the SBIR/STTR Grant Mechanisms and Guidelines page.

Technology Innovation, Transfer, Commercialization, and Communication for Environmental Health Science

Program Description

NIEHS SBIR and STTR grants help small businesses develop and bring to market products or technologies that apply the latest research findings and advances to identify, detect, or characterize environmental hazards and prevent exposures linked to disease outcomes. NIEHS-funded researchers have made tremendous progress in developing technologies to characterize environmental factors that threaten public health, examining biological mechanisms by which toxicants affect health, and evaluating how exposure to harmful environmental agents might be avoided or reduced.

Many of these innovations capitalize on advances in exposure biology. For example, the NIEHS SBIR/STTR program supports grants developing devices and methods to precisely measure environmental contaminants, track the body’s response to exposures, and detect the internal levels of toxicants to which a person has been exposed.

The NIEHS SBIR/STTR program also supports the mission of the National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM) to reduce or replace animal use in toxicology testing through development of in silico and in vitro approaches. In addition, the program supports efforts to communicate information on environmental hazards to the public to help people protect themselves from harmful exposures.

The NIEHS SBIR program and NICEATM staff hosted a WebEx Town Hall meeting in 2020 on the development of new approach methodologies to reduce animal use in toxicity testing. An archived webcast and materials can be found on SBIR/STTR Town Hall Meeting webpage.

Program Contacts

Daniel T. Shaughnessy, Ph.D.
Daniel T. Shaughnessy, Ph.D.
Health Scientist Administrator
Tel 984-287-3321
Fax 919-541-0146
[email protected]
P.O. Box 12233
Mail Drop K3-04
Durham, NC 27709
Lingamanaidu V. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
Lingamanaidu V. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
Health Scientist Administrator
Tel 984-287-3309
[email protected]
P.O. Box 12233
Mail Drop K3-05
Durham, NC 27709

Innovation in Worker Education and Training

Program Description

Proper training can mean the difference between life and death for workers who handle hazardous materials, help with emergency response when hazardous materials are released, or respond to manmade and natural disasters. Although training for such workers has traditionally required physical classrooms and educational materials, recent technological advances have opened opportunities for providing accessible, accurate, and interactive training through electronic channels.

Through the Worker Training Program, NIEHS supports:

  • E-Learning Technology-Enhanced Training Products safety and health training.
  • Development of e-Learning Technology-Enhanced Training products and tools for the health and safety training of:
    • Hazardous materials (HAZMAT) workers.
    • Waste treatment personnel.
    • Skilled support personnel and emergency responders associated with an emergency/disaster.
    • Emergency responders in biological hazard response, infectious disease response, disaster response, and medical waste cleanup.
  • Technology-enhanced training products to support the health and safety training of:
    • Workers exposed to known, emerging, and new hazards from disasters.
    • Disaster preparedness and response resiliency training.
    • Underserved and vulnerable workers.
    • Workers involved in emerging industries and technologies.

These e-Learning tools use several delivery platforms, including:

  • Computer and web-based applications.
  • Smart phone applications.
  • Video games designed for educational and training purposes.
  • Augmented Reality and Virtual reality.

In general, the tools provide a solution to specific training problems and for specific training audiences. They can be instructor-led and used in traditional classroom settings, and they often assist in preparation for critical hands-on training. These new approaches help to equip workers rapidly and effectively with the skills and knowledge to protect themselves and their communities from hazards.

The Worker Training Program solicits applications via a yearly Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcement. Please contact a Worker Training Program representative for information on the next solicitation date, which differs from the standard receipt dates of this NIH omnibus.

Visit the SBIR E-Learning for HAZMAT Program page for more information.

Program Contacts

Kathy A. Ahlmark
Kathy A. Ahlmark
Health Specialist
Tel 919-609-6428
[email protected]
Jim Remington
Jim Remington
Program Analyst
Tel 919-491-7803
[email protected]
530 Davis Dr
530 Davis Drive (Keystone Bldg)
Durham, NC 27713
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Innovative Clean-up and Detection Technologies for Use at Superfund Sites

Program Description

The Superfund Research Program (SRP), through the SBIR program, supports small businesses to foster the commercialization of innovative technologies, products, and devices that can be used at Superfund or other contaminated sites to detect and clean-up hazardous substances. These commercial products benefit public health by providing new methods for detecting contaminants or cleaning up environmental health hazards from contaminated groundwater, sediment, soil, and air.

Visit the NIEHS Hazardous Substances Remediation and Site Characterization SBIR Program for more information.

Program Contact

Heather Henry, Ph.D.
Heather Henry, Ph.D.
Health Scientist Administrator, Superfund Research Program
Tel 984-287-3268
[email protected]
530 Davis Dr
530 Davis Drive (Keystone Bldg)
Durham, NC 27713