Researchers at the centers will examine how to better protect children from environmental threats

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing almost $28 million in joint funding with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to five Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers to promote health and well-being in communities where children live, learn and play.

“These centers have helped establish the foundation of children’s environmental health research in the United States,” said Dr. James H. Johnson, Director of EPA’s National Center for Environmental Research. “The funding announced today will add to this legacy by providing cutting-edge research and greater awareness in understanding how a range of environmental factors can affect our nation’s children.”

Since 1998, EPA and NIEHS have jointly funded children’s centers, which combine community engagement with scientific research. Through the children’s centers, EPA has developed a national network of researchers, health care professionals and parents groups. The centers at Northeastern University and Emory University are new additions to the network and will bring their unique contributions to the important mission of protecting the health of children and adolescents.

The following institutions each received joint funding for their research:

• The Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health at Columbia University, New York, N.Y. to further investigate the impact of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on adolescent cognitive, emotional, behavioral and adiposity, or body fat, health outcomes during vulnerable life stages.
• The Center for Children’s Health, the Environment, Microbiome and Metabolomics at Emory University, Atlanta, Ga. to investigate the interrelationships of components of the prenatal and postnatal environment to better understand the effects of environmental contaminants on the microbiome and subsequent effects on neurodevelopment.
• The Johns Hopkins Center for the Study of Childhood Asthma in the Urban Environment, Baltimore, Md. to investigate obesity as a susceptibility factor among asthmatics to translate findings into interventions to improve pediatric asthma health in those with the highest risks.
• The Center for Research on Early Childhood Exposure and Development in Puerto Rico at Northeastern University, Boston, Mass. to investigate the combined effects of exposure within the uterus and during early childhood to multiple pollutants on children’s health and development, how psychosocial factors modify the effects of environmental chemical exposures, and the development of biomarkers that capture exposures.
• The Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Leukemia and the Environment at the University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, Calif. for research to identify the causes of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in an ethnically diverse population to significantly improve our understanding of the effect of environmental exposures on the development of childhood leukemia.

More about the Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers Program awards here.