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EPA Seeks Applications for $3 Million in Grants to Investigate Environmentally Induced Disease in Children
November 1, 2004
Ann Brown (brown.ann@epa.gov); 919-541-7818
Washington, D.C. - To improve the health and well-being of children, EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Research and Development Dr. Paul Gilman today announced that EPA is soliciting applications for $3 million in grants to investigate early indicators of environmentally induced disease. The grants will be used to develop tools that can be used as indicators or predictors of health to support long-term studies, such as the National Children’s Study, a study co-sponsored by the EPA that will follow 100,000 children in the United States from before birth to age 21. Specific health outcomes of interest include asthma, pregnancy, neurodevelopment and behavior, obesity and physical development, and chronic diseases such as cancer.
“Protecting children from the health effects associated with exposure to environmental pollutants has always been a major concern for EPA,” said Dr. Gilman. “Now we have an opportunity to apply our work to a major epidemiological research study investigating and defining the relationship of environmental exposures with the health and development of children.”
The announcement was made at a Human Health Symposium in Philadelphia, sponsored by EPA’s Research Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program. At the symposium, EPA and university researchers presented a summary of their research activities on biomarkers, exposure assessment, susceptibility and vulnerability, and chemical mixtures and their effects on children’s health.
One of the high-priority research areas identified by EPA is the development of tools and techniques that can be used to improve health risk assessment, including those that can be used as early indicators of disease. EPA has conducted and funded a large body of research focused on the development of biomarkers to assess children’s exposure to pesticides. In addition, EPA has funded a variety of research projects investigating the causes of environmental disease, intervention methodologies, gene-environment interactions and genetic variations -- all targeted at increasing the overall scientific understanding of what it means to be differentially susceptible to exposure or disease.
For more information about this research opportunity and about the STAR program, see http://www.epa.gov/ncer. For more information about the National Children’s Study, visit: http://www.nationalchildrensstudy.gov
EPA relies on quality science as the basis for sound policy and decision-making. EPA’s laboratories, research centers, and grantees are building the scientific foundation needed to support the Agency’s mission to safeguard human health and the environment.