New Biology and Risk Assessment: Innovative Technologies for Environmental Planning and Health
UC San Diego's NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP): Research Translation and Community Outreach Activities.
Summary: The Research Translation and Community Outreach activities of the Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP), funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has given considerable support to GPEIG over the past four years for web development and newsletter production. This relationship opens new opportunities for collaboration among scientists, planners and others dedicated to improving the quality of environmental and public health.
NIEHS (SBRP)-GPEIG Collaboration
The University of California, San Diego has a Superfund Basic Research Program funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The UCSD SBRP has a Research Translation Core (RTC) and a Community Outreach Core (COC). Keith Pezzoli is the PI of both SBRP Cores; and he is an active member of GPEIG. Pezzoli works closely with Hiram Sarabia--an expert in sustainability science and civically-engaged research methods (including citizen science). The UCSD SBRP grant is currently funded until 2010; it has been in place since 2000.
UCSD’s SBRP has supported GPEIG in a number of significant ways --including project support (Los Laureles Canyon, Tijuana, Mexico), web development and publications. The RTC and COC aims include crossborder work with Mexico as well as other nations and city-regions worldwide. The RTC and COC benefits from the GPEIG network as we build cyberinfrastructure for science communication (regionally, nationally, globally), including planning and decision support systems, to help link science to policy, planning, grassroots initiatives and environmental regulatory innovation.
Background
In 2005, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) made research translation a requirement of their multidisciplinary Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP). The NIEHS is unique within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It focuses on disease prevention as opposed to treatment for existing illnesses; the NIEHS is thus inclined to embrace a holistic approach to environmental and public health. The NIEHS prides itself on advancing the state of the art in research translation and community outreach. UCSD is home base to one of the NIEHS-SBRPs. There are 15 such programs linked in a national network. UCSD’s SBRP got underway for the first time in 2000. In 2005 we won a competitive renewal ($17.2 million) that extends the life of the grant to 2010. We intend to seek competitive renewal for another five years extending the live of the grant to 2015. Our UCSD SBRP brings together faculty from 10 UCSD departments, Organized Research Units and Centers, including UCSD’s Medical School, Biology Department, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the Social Sciences (Urban Studies and Planning, and Ethnic Studies). To meet our research and outreach aims, we created a Regional Workbench Consortium (RWBC)—a partnership-driven research and knowledge networking operation geared to promoting sustainable development.
We are extending the reach of the RWBC by building a Global Planning Grid (GPG). The GPG is a collaborative effort joining participants from GPEIG, SBRP, Urban Studies and Planning Program (USP, UCSD), Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies (CILAS, UCSD), Environment and Sustainability Initiative (ESI, UCSD), the San Diego Supercomputer Center, University of Manchester (Centre for Urban and Regional Ecology, SUREGEN Workbench), Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa – RNP/ Brazilian National Research and Education Network (Metropolitan Optic Network / Rede Optica Metropolitana/ Redecomep, Brazil), and the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), among others.
The emphasis our NIEHS-SBRP places on pollution, city-regions and global environmental health makes the NIEHS-SBRP a promising partner for GPEIG colleagues. We see a fruitful and deepening partnership among participants of GPEIG and our NIEHS-SBRP Research Translation and Community Outreach activities. To the extent that collaborative relationships and activity meet the designated aims of our NIEHS-SBRP grant, we can continue to support the development of GPEIG’s cyberinfrastructure and knowledge networking capacity worldwide (e.g. through efforts like the Global Planning Grid, web site development and printed material). The aims or our NIEHS-SBRP Research Translation Core and Community Outreach Core are outlined below.
SBRP Research Translation Core (RTC)
http://superfund.ucsd.edu/support/int_cores/translation_core.php
The SBRP-RTC is engaged in a threefold strategy: (1) building partnerships with government, community-based and industrial groups to advance the practical contributions of toxicogenomics in environmental policy and planning, (2) evaluating the utility of molecular biomarkers/biosensors, microtechnologies and bioremediation as new biological models/methods for improving environmental monitoring, risk assessment and remediation; and (3) communicating complex research findings to broad audiences through periodic workshops; symposia; participation in regional, national and international conferences; publications, and Web-based systems. The broad long-term objective is to apply toxicogenomic knowledge and biomolecular technologies to real-life problems concerning hazardous substances and environmental health. Along these lines, biomarkers developed by SBRP scientists are being evaluated, in partnership with government and non-profit organizations, and Tribal labs responsible for water quality monitoring, as potentially effective new cellular and analytic tools for detecting Superfund toxicants in contaminated watersheds. At the same time, SBRP-industry partnerships aim to promote the experimental development and commercialization of novel bioremediation technologies (e.g., transgenic plants that can hyper-accumulate heavy metals out of contaminated soil), and microtechnologies (e.g., labs-on-a-chip that can be used as biosensors for detecting exposure to pesticides). The RTC’s approach leverages strong working partnerships and information/visualization technologies already developed by the Regional Workbench Consortium (RWBC) in partnership with the San Diego Supercomputer Center. The RWBC is a Web-based research and learning network for sustainable development. The RTC’s toolkit includes on-line geographic information systems (GIS), decision support systems (DSS), multimedia interactive stories, and 3D visualization.
SBRP Community Outreach Core (COC).
http://superfund.ucsd.edu/support/int_cores/translation_core.php
The SBRP-COC is an environmental justice project involving the communication and sharing of SBRP-generated knowledge and tools with Tribal communities affected by hazardous waste sites and toxicants. We use a Tribal Regional Workbench approach to enabling equitable environmental stewardship of Indian Reservations. The broad objective is to shift the emphasis from risk assessment as a disease paradigm to risk assessment as a wellness paradigm that embraces Tribal Traditional Lifeways. This new approach is identified as a high priority by the U.S. EPA’s National Tribal Science Council, the National Tribal Environmental Council (NTEC), and Tribal environmental protection agencies. The COC’s five specific aims are grouped into two broad categories: (1) Communication and Environmental Justice, and (2) Knowledge Systems Integration. Specific aims include (1) (a) to build a Tribal Regional Workbench Web site; (b) to share SBRP-generated knowledge and tools; (2) (a) to host a regional gathering of tribal leaders and scientists; (b) to facilitate training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students; and (c) to co-author a series of papers, articles, and other publications with Tribal partners.
NIEHS and SBRP links
The NIEHS uses environmental health sciences to understand human disease and improve human health.The NIEHS receives its funding through an annual Congressional appropriation. The Office of Science Policy supports the NIEHS director and staff in defining and interpreting programs and research of the Institute to Congress, as well as to the public, scientific, and public health communities.
Source: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/
UCSD NIEHS-SBRP Research Translation Core
http://superfund.ucsd.edu/support/int_cores/translation_core.php
UCSD NIEHS-SBRP Community Outreach Core
http://superfund.ucsd.edu/support/int_cores/outreach_core.php
The NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP) is a network of university grants. Since its inception in 1987, the SBRP has applied a multidisciplinary approach to basic research focused to provide a solid foundation which environmental managers and risk assessors can draw upon to make sound decisions related to Superfund and other hazardous waste sites. Basic research plays a crucial role in addressing challenges posed by environmental contamination such as health risks, toxicity, exposure predictions, fate and transport, and the need for cost-effective treatments for hazardous waste sites found throughout the United States. Today, the SBRP Program supports peer-reviewed research in 14 university programs encompassing 89 collaborating institutions. These programs conduct interdisciplinary, multi-project research focused on one central theme. The SBRP also provides funding for Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer Research (SBIR/STTR) grants designed to foster the commercialization of relevant technologies, products and devices, as well as funding for individual research grants to address specific issues that complement the multiproject program grants. The SBRP also has a strong training component, supporting many outstanding graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. Finally, the Program funds a variety of outreach efforts to facilitate the translation of the Program’s research findings to the communities and organizations most concerned with hazardous substances, with the ultimate goal of improving public health.
Source: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/sbrp/about/index.cfm
Other Links
NIEHS Global Environmental Health
NIEHS has a commitment to the goals of protecting and improving global health. With a strong history of international cooperation on environmental health problems and a research vision aimed at solving the puzzles of environmentally induced human disease, the NIEHS is uniquely poised at the forefront of Global Environmental Health (GEH). Global Environmental Health at NIEHS encompasses global research, international fellows training, outreach and capacity building, and service to the scientific community. Source:
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/od/deputy/geh/index.cfm
GPEIG Member Projects Page
http://www.gpeig.org/index.php/projects_initiatives/
Project URL:
http://superfund.ucsd.edu/support/int_cores/translation_core.php
