Community Engagement May Ensure Emergency Public Health Needs Are Met
Two research teams at the University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences Campus engaged with the local community to understand needs before and after various natural disasters and public health emergencies. The teams were from:
- The Center for Collaborative Research in Health Disparities (CCRHD), a center funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program.
- The NIEHS-funded Puerto Rico Team for Exploring Contamination Threats (PROTECT), a grant recipient of the Superfund Research Program.
These teams adapted disaster responses by working with communities during and after hurricanes, earthquakes, and the spread of infectious diseases. Both the CCRHD and PROTECT teams followed a three-step process to conduct outreach:
- Reach out to community members after each emergency to assess immediate needs.
- Categorize needs such as materials, educational resources, service referrals, and collaborations.
- Deliver support in a coordinated and timely manner, whether in-person or online.
Their work exemplifies the important role academic research institutions can play in contributing to community empowerment in recovery efforts. A March 2023 paper describes the researchers’ approaches and lessons learned.
Addressing Natural Disasters and Emergency Events in Puerto Rico
“Residents of Puerto Rico have experienced an unrelenting series of emergencies in the recent past,” reflected Irene Lafarga Previdi, Ph.D., community engagement coordinator for the CCRHD Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program. “However, the community is resilient. Our role is to work with the community to understand their needs and empower them to respond to emergencies.”
From 2015 to 2022, the residents of Puerto Rico faced a series of disasters and emergencies, including the Zika epidemic, hurricanes Irma and Maria, earthquakes, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the short period of time over which they occurred, the effects of each event compounded unresolved challenges from prior events. Additionally, Puerto Rico’s 15-year debt crisis affected the country's capacity to prepare for and respond to disaster. During this unprecedented time, researchers worked with community members to address their recovery needs, demonstrating how academic research institutions can play an important role in recovery after disasters.
Buildings destroyed after a severe weather event. (Photo courtesy of Franklin Peña Gutierrez of Pexels)
At the beginning of the Zika epidemic in 2015, the CCRHD team initiated a pilot project to develop risk communication strategies to control and prevent the spread of the virus. The project used a community-based participatory research approach to create communications focused on Zika awareness, a health fair, health education through theater, and community forums and workshops. An evaluation of the project indicated increased community knowledge about Zika virus spread and behaviors to control mosquitoes, carriers of the Zika virus.
The PROTECT project was part of an international study of the effects of the Zika virus on pregnancy and birth outcomes. In the aftermath of hurricanes Maria and Irma, the research team reached out to community partners to determine their needs. Participants expressed a need for safe drinking water, mosquito repellent, and baby supplies, such as diapers and food. The research team collaborated with community organizations to get materials to participants.
The two programs worked together to conduct a variety of outreach activities after the hurricanes. Since conditions after the hurricanes were ideal for mosquitoes to multiply rapidly, researchers visited a residential area to conduct training sessions on how to prevent mosquito-transmitted diseases. The teams distributed mosquito nets and traps and demonstrated how to use them. Researchers also shared information about the risks of contaminated water and distributed water filters.
A man travels down a flooded roadway. Standing water such as this creates conditions that may increase the numbers of mosquitoes, which can spread disease. (Photo courtesy of Elena Kuzmina of Pexels)
When earthquakes hit the island in January 2020, the research teams again worked with community members, leveraging knowledge gained from prior disasters, to promote public health. The CCRHD and PROTECT teams conducted a needs assessment for residents of temporary shelters. In addition, the CCRHD Program team worked with researchers at the University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences Campus Public Health School and the Puerto Rico Public Health Trust to distribute necessities such as water filters and mosquito repellent to residents living in temporary shelters.
Both teams continued to support community initiatives and remained responsive to community needs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The CCRHD team collaborated with health and community organizations to distribute face masks and hand sanitizer. In collaboration with the Puerto Rico Public Health Trust, the teams also developed and disseminated a comprehensive community guide about COVID-19 prevention and vaccination. The PROTECT team, after learning that residents preferred COVID-19 information in visually appealing, digital formats, created material in formats such as webinars, animated videos, and infographics. To ensure a wide distribution, PROTECT sent materials through text messages and social media.
“CCRHD and PROTECT adapted community engagement efforts to the situation at hand, the needs of our collaborators, and the needs of the community,” stated Carmen Vélez Vega, Ph.D., community engagement director of CCRHD and PROTECT. “Not every situation required just educational materials; sometimes we were out there giving out masks for COVID-19, or mosquito nets for Zika or after the hurricanes, for example. Where we could meet a need of our community, we did.”
Lessons Learned
The CCRHD and PROTECT research teams learned several valuable lessons through their experiences engaging with communities. They found it is important to:
- Collaborate with other organizations to avoid duplicating efforts.
- Develop or have established relationships with communities where a research team would like to have an impact, since this will facilitate trust, communication, and implementation.
- Identify actual needs that should be met by consulting the communities themselves.
- Involve the community by working together and considering their knowledge, experience, and skills.
These teams exemplify the importance of having a community engagement core or a community engagement component within a larger research center. As demonstrated, these aspects enable research centers to build relationships with local communities before disasters or emergencies happen so they can engage effectively and address a community’s needs promptly during emergencies.
“As researchers, we are well-positioned to assess needs and then address them through effective approaches, particularly community engagement,” said Lafarga Previdi.
Vélez Vega added, “We look forward to furthering our community engagement efforts to continue building back from these emergencies.”
Women Treated for Breast Cancer May Age Faster Than Cancer-Free Women
NIH-funded researchers found that women treated for breast cancer have faster biological aging than women who do not have breast cancer. Biological age, a measure of a person’s cell and tissue health, is distinct from chronological age as measured by a person’s age. Researchers examined the association between biological aging and several cancer treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and endocrine therapy. The association between treatment modality and biological aging was strongest for radiation, while surgery had no association with biological aging, suggesting that developing cancer is not, by itself, responsible for the aging effect. To conduct the research, the team studied blood samples from women enrolled in the Sister Study, an NIEHS-funded prospective cohort study aimed at identifying environmental and genetic risk factors for breast cancer and other diseases. You can read the full research paper and the NIH news release.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s New Toolkit for Lead Paint Enforcement Programs Promotes Environmental Justice
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released an Environmental Justice Toolkit for Lead Paint Enforcement Programs in June, designed to help enforcement programs better incorporate environmental justice considerations and community involvement into all aspects of their enforcement activities. The resource emphasizes the need for better partnerships with communities and co-regulators, such as health departments and housing departments, and for addressing environmental justice in enforcement remedies. The toolkit is a compilation of best practices and supports commitments to reduce lead exposures with a focus on underserved communities, as described in the agency’s Lead Strategy. Read more about EPA’s lead-related activities.
Community Organizations Address Environmental Injustices
Five organizations, with funding from the American Public Health Association’s Advancing Environmental Justice thought Technical Assistance Mini Grants Program, are working toward environmental justice for their communities. The program receives support from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. One organization, Hui O Ho’Ohonua, a nonprofit in Hawaii, started in 2015 when residents worked together to address environmental public health issues, such as damaged waterways, caused by industrial and military activities near Pearl Harbor. When the group started, only two or three people attended waterway cleanups, but the organization has increased its membership and the variety of its activities as it received more funding. It now organizes monthly community workdays, hosts educational events, and organizes partnerships to address conservation, policy matters, food security, and other topics. The other community organizations receiving funding under the mini grant program are working on a variety of issues in communities throughout the U.S., such as improving farmworker safety, reducing industrial emissions that threaten human health, reducing children’s exposure to lead, and protecting water quality. You can read more about the five grantees.
PEPH Environmental Health Chat Podcast Series
Participatory Research for Structural Change
PEPH Environmental Health Chat Podcast Series
Participatory Research for Structural Change
In the latest podcast, Mónica D. Ramírez-Andreotta, Ph.D., discusses how to conduct community-based participatory research to prompt social, economic, and political structures to reduce environmental health disparities. She describes strategies that she uses in her own work and how other researchers can use these strategies to design their own projects.
PEPH Grantee Highlight
Mindy Richlen, Ph.D.
Although Mindy Richlen, Ph.D., grew up in southern Idaho, far from any oceans, she now studies harmful algal blooms, which occur when certain algae species grow rapidly and produce toxins. Harmful algal blooms can have significant economic, social, and human health implications, such as beach and fishery closures and fish being recalled. Because of these and other health, social, and economic impacts, Richlen believes that community engagement is key. She is the head of the Community Engagement Core of the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health, which is active in classroom education and building environmental health literacy for the public. Richlen, in collaboration with Carla Curran, Ph.D., developed interdisciplinary educational activities about harmful algal blooms for middle school students. This material incorporates concepts from biology and ecology, marine science, math, and data analysis and allows students to work with data produced by researchers, a feature that teachers greatly appreciate. The material has already been used in classrooms, and Richlen and Curran plan to develop more student-focused material. Moving forward, Richlen also hopes to bridge connections between researchers and the public health and medical communities in order to improve clinician recognition and reporting of illnesses related to harmful algal blooms.
Funding Opportunites
Limited Competition: Superfund Hazardous Substance Research and Training Program (P42 Clinical Trial Optional)
NIEHS is announcing the continuation of the Superfund Hazardous Substance Research and Training Program, referred to as Superfund Research Program (SRP) centers. SRP center grants will support problem-based, solution-oriented research centers that consist of multiple, integrated projects representing both the biomedical and environmental science and engineering disciplines; as well as cores tasked with administrative (which includes research translation), data management and analysis, community engagement, research experience and training coordination, and research support functions. Collectively, the center's research projects (maximum of six) should represent a range of basic and applied research that contributes to the problem-based, solution-oriented goal of the center. Each center's central problem should be addressed by the contributions of these projects and each project should have the necessary biomedical and/or environmental science and/or engineering expertise to address the central problem.
Deadline: October 2, 2023
Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Admin Supp — Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Supports administrative supplements to recruit and support high school, undergraduate and graduate/clinical students, postbaccalaureate and post-Master’s individuals, postdoctoral researchers (including health professionals), and eligible investigators. NIH encourages institutions to diversify their student, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty populations to enhance the participation of individuals from groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral, and social sciences, such as individuals from racial and ethnic groups that have been underrepresented in the sciences; individuals with disabilities; individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds; and women from disadvantaged backgrounds. See the NIEHS workforce diversity supplements webpage for more information.
Deadlines: October 2, 2023; December 1, 2023; February 1, 2024
Research With Activities Related to Diversity (ReWARD) (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
ReWARD funding will support research in areas related to the programmatic interests of NIEHS and ongoing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility activities focused on enhancing diversity in the biomedical research enterprise within the U.S. and territories. This funding is intended for individuals with no current NIH research project grant funding at the time of the award. This announcement requires a Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives as part of the application.
Deadlines: June 5, 2023; October 5, 2023; February 5, 2024
Time-Sensitive Research Opportunities in Environmental Health Sciences (R21 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Supports research in environmental health science in which an event has or will imminently occur that provides a limited window of opportunity to collect samples and data to support the assessment of exposures and human health impact. The goal of the program is to characterize initial exposures, collect human biological samples, or collect human health and exposure data in order to provide critical information to understand exposure-health outcome relationships, with the goal of providing data that will facilitate timely action to protect public health. The program also supports the use of innovative techniques (hazard identification, sensing and mitigation technologies) that are uniquely valuable for deployment at a time of disaster to inform our understanding of the human health impacts of the disaster.
Deadlines: April 3, 2023; June 1, 2023
Addressing the Impact of Structural Racism and Discrimination on Minority Health and Health Disparities (R01 - Clinical Trial Optional)
Supports intervention research to address the impact of structural racism and discrimination on minority health and health disparities. Research projects must address structural racism and discrimination in one or more NIH-designated populations with health disparities in the U.S. and should address documented disparities in health outcomes. Applications are also expected to provide a conceptual model identifying hypothesized pathways between the structural racism and discrimination and health outcomes. NIEHS is interested in applications that are within scope of its 2018-2023 Strategic Plan, meet the criteria established in this FOA, and focus on intervention research that mitigates or prevents the impacts of environmental exposures on communities due to structural racism and discrimination. Applicants are strongly encouraged to utilize community-engaged research approaches that ensure equity, such as including community partners as part of the research team and having letters of support from community partners. Applications that demonstrate collaborative (i.e., community-academic partnerships) intervention approaches to address the negative health effects of structural racism and discrimination across multiple populations with environmental health disparities will be prioritized.
Deadlines: March 24, 2023; October 10, 2023
Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS): Health Equity Research Hubs (UC2 Clinical Trial Optional)
Invites applications from eligible organizations that can serve as Health Equity Research Hubs (Hubs) for awarded community-led health equity structural intervention (CHESI) projects within the Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS) Program. The Hubs will serve as a centralized research resource, providing tailored scientific, technical, and collaborative support for sustainable community engagement, research capacity building, and training to assigned CHESI projects that address social determinants of health and structural factors to improve health outcomes. The Hubs are one of three complementary initiatives under the ComPASS Program, which also include the CHESI projects and the ComPASS Coordination Center.
Letter of Intent: September 30, 2023
Deadline: October 31, 2023
Exploratory Grants for Climate Change and Health Research Center Development (P20 Clinical Trial Optional)
Supports the development of an innovative research environment to foster and sustain a transdisciplinary program of fundamental and applied research to explore the complex impacts of climate change on health and to develop action-oriented strategies that protect health and build resiliency at the individual, community, national and global levels. A major goal for this program is to build research teams as well as collaborations with communities and other key partners. The program seeks innovative research and pilot/feasibility projects that utilize transdisciplinary approaches to address questions relevant to climate change impacts on health. Applications for these Climate Change and Health Research Development Centers should propose planning and development activities in preparation to build institutional research capacity for future proposals addressing climate and health. NIH held an informational webinar/Q&A session March 24, from 1:00pm-3:00pm EDT. The slides and a Frequently Asked Questions document will be available following the session. Please feel free to reach out to the NIEHS Scientific/Research Point of Contact, Abee Boyles, if you are unable to attend the session or have additional questions.
Deadlines: May 1, 2023; November 7, 2023
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (Parent F31)
The Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (Parent F31) award enables promising predoctoral students to obtain individualized, mentored research training from outstanding faculty sponsors while conducting dissertation research in scientific health-related fields relevant to the missions of participating NIH Institutes and Centers. The proposed mentored research training must reflect the candidate’s dissertation research project and is expected to clearly enhance the individual’s potential to develop into a productive, independent research scientist. Funding opportunities are also open for the Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Individual Fellowship for Students at Institutions with NIH-Funded Institutional Predoctoral Dual-Degree Training Programs (Parent F30), that supports promising predoctoral students who are matriculated in a combined M.D./Ph.D. or other dual-doctoral degree training program, and who intend careers as physician/clinician-scientists, and the Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Individual Senior Fellowship (Parent F33), that supports experienced scientists who wish to make major changes in the direction of their research careers or who wish to broaden their scientific background by acquiring new research capabilities as independent investigators in research fields relevant to the missions of participating NIH Institutes and Centers.
Deadlines: December 8, 2023; April 8, 2024
PHS 2023-2 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH and CDC for Small Business Innovation Research Grant Applications (Parent SBIR [R43/R44] Clinical Trial Required)
Invites eligible United States small business concerns to submit Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I, Phase II, Direct to Phase II (NIH only), Fast-Track (NIH only), and Phase IIB (NIH only) grant applications. The PHS 2023 -2 SBIR/STTR Program Descriptions and Research Topics for NIH, CDC, and FDA represent scientific program areas that may be of interest to applicant small businesses in the development of projects that have potential for commercialization. Small business concerns that have the research capabilities and technological expertise to contribute to the research and development mission(s) of the NIH and CDC awarding components identified in this funding opportunity are encouraged to submit SBIR grant applications in these areas. A related SBIR funding opportunity is available without a clinical trial requirement: PHS 2023-2 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH, CDC and FDA for Small Business Innovation Research Grant Applications (Parent SBIR [R43/R44] Clinical Trial Not Allowed). Related funding opportunities are available for small business applicants interested in submitting small business technology transfer (STTR) applications: PHS 2023-2 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH for Small Business Technology Transfer Grant Applications (Parent STTR [R41/R42] Clinical Trial Not Allowed) and PHS 2023-2 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH for Small Business Technology Transfer Grant Applications (Parent STTR [R41/R42] Clinical Trial Required).
Deadlines: September 5, 2023; January 5, 2024; April 5, 2024
SBIR/STTR Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP) Program Technical Assistance and Late Stage Development (SB1, Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Encourages applications from small business concerns to the newly re-authorized Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP) program. The funding opportunity aims to facilitate the transition of previously or currently funded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II and Phase IIB projects to the commercialization stage by providing additional support for technical assistance and later stage research and development not typically supported through Phase II or Phase IIB grants or contracts. This may include independent replication of key studies, Investigational New Drug-enabling studies, clinical studies, manufacturing costs, regulatory assistance, or a combination of services. Although a significant amount of the work in a CRP award may be subcontracted to other institutions, the small business concern is expected to maintain oversight and management of research and development throughout the award.
Deadlines: September 5, 2023; January 5, 2024; April 5, 2024
HHS Environmental Justice Community Innovator Challenge
The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and the Office of Minority Health are seeking community-led strategies and tools to address health disparities in communities disproportionately impacted by environmental risks and hazards including those related to climate change, and the cumulative impacts of other stressors. This Challenge seeks to support to community-based and Tribal organizations in areas including, but not limited to: development or implementation community-driven strategies to address health disparities; effective partnerships between community-based or Tribal organizations and other civil organizations, such as faith-based, healthcare and public health and educational organizations, to address environmental and climate change-related hazards and support community resilience; and innovative approaches to building capacity in community-based or Tribal organizations on project planning, needs assessment, budgeting, engagement with community members, and grant application writing, to address environmental and climate change-related hazards as drivers of health disparities. The competition has two phases. All eligible submissions will be evaluated, and separate prizes will be awarded for each of the two phases. The first phase is currently open for submissions. There will be a general informational webinar on October 10, and an information webinar for Tribal organizations on October 12.
Deadline: January 30, 2024
Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Supports research on interventions to improve health in Native American (NA) populations. This includes 1) etiologic research, where there is a significant gap in knowledge, that will directly inform intervention development or adaptations, 2) research that develops, adapts, or tests the efficacy or effectiveness of health promotion and disease prevention interventions, 3) research that tests culturally informed treatment or recovery interventions and 4) where a sufficient body of knowledge on intervention efficacy exists, research on dissemination and implementation that develops and tests strategies to overcome barriers to the adoption, integration, scale-up, and sustainability of effective interventions. Through this initiative, intervention and related research is sought to build upon community knowledge, resources, and resilience to test science-based, culturally appropriate solutions to reduce morbidity and mortality through identification and remediation of precursors to diseases and disorders and through culturally informed treatment.
Deadline: May 17, 2021; May 17, 2022; May 17, 2023
Letter of Intent: Due 30 days prior to the application due date
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