Volume 5, Issue 10: October 2014 • www.niehs.nih.gov/PEPH

PEPH Meeting Focuses on Advancing Environmental Health Literacy

UNC BCERP Website Educates Young Black Women about Breast Cancer

NIEHS Grantees Identify Community Concerns about Natural Gas Extraction

New NLM Video Teaches Kids about Mercury and Health

PEPH Grantee Highlight: Erin Haynes

PEPH in the Environmental Factor

PEPH Podcast: Personal Care Products

EPA/NIEHS Children's Centers Webinar: Connecting Science and Communities

Upcoming PEPH-Related Meetings

Visit the PEPH Funding Opportunity Announcements page for more PEPH-related funding opportunities.

Air Pollution Monitoring for Communities. The EPA, as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is seeking applications that create knowledge to empower communities and individuals to take action to avoid air pollution exposure, using low-cost portable air pollution sensors. Deadline: October 7, 2014.

Environmental Justice Small Grants (EJSG). The EPA EJSG Program provides funding for non-profit organizations and Tribal communities to conduct projects that address environmental or public health issues at the local level. The 2015 EJSG Program will have a special emphasis on proposals supporting community-based preparedness and resilience efforts. Deadline: December 15, 2014.

Understanding and Promoting Health Literacy (R01, R03, R21). The goal of this program announcement is to encourage methodological, intervention, and dissemination research for understanding and promoting health literacy. Deadlines: November 5, 2014 (R01); October 16, 2014 (R03, R21). PAR Expiration Date: May 8, 2016.

Interventions for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Native American Populations (R01). The purpose of this FOA is to develop, adapt, and test the effectiveness of health promotion and disease prevention interventions in Native American populations. Deadline: May 12, 2015 (application); a letter of intent is due 30 days before the application due date.

On September 22-24, more than 120 researchers, community leaders, and government representatives gathered at NIEHS in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina to advance the field of environmental health literacy (EHL). There was a distinct spirit of collaboration and enthusiasm among meeting attendees who shared ideas about communication strategies, EHL evaluation methods, and how to move the field forward.

The meeting was organized to foster dialogue and the sharing of ideas. Attendees sat around small tables and engaged in group discussions after each of the four meeting sessions. The meeting reached more than those who made the trip to NIEHS – ten groups across the country organized Watch Parties to view session presentations in real time and address discussion topics, just like the conference attendees. Poster presentations also stimulated conversations among meeting participants – 26 posters highlighted community-engaged research projects and efforts to increase and evaluate EHL. The meeting closed with a day of hands-on workshops, which covered a range of topics, including increasing EHL among healthcare professionals and in the classroom, EHL evaluation metrics, cultural communication, and using tools to engage communities in research.

Visit the PEPH Annual Meeting Web page for more information about the meeting goals, posters, and presentations that stimulated many important conversations on EHL. Stay tuned for the meeting report, which will provide a summary of the key themes and recommendations that emerged from the event.

On October 1, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program (UNC BCERP) will launch an interactive website devoted to educating young African American women about environmental risk factors for breast cancer. Researchers in the UNC BCERP who are studying the environmental influences on basal-like breast cancer in black women under 50, partnered with staff in the Community Outreach and Engagement Core (COEC) of the UNC Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility (CEHS) and the UNC School of Information and Library Science to develop the website. Before creating the site, the COEC conducted focus groups to understand African American women's perceptions of breast cancer and to learn where they get health information. They discovered that many young black women did not feel represented in breast cancer awareness campaigns, which often feature white women. In response, BCERP and COEC staff created videos featuring young black breast cancer survivors, breast cancer advocates, and physicians. In addition, the website includes information on breast cancer risk factors and a tool for users to assess personal risk factors. The team has also incorporated built-in analytics to evaluate the website's effectiveness as a source of breast health information. Although African American women are the target audience for this tool, women of all backgrounds can use it to learn about breast cancer risk. Visit mybcrisk.org to explore the new site.

A team of NIEHS-funded researchers used a prospective approach to incorporate public concerns into the unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) research agenda. Historically, public concerns are considered after environmental health issues emerge. The research team was made up of members from Community Outreach and Engagement Cores within the Environmental Health Science Core Centers at the University of Rochester, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Cincinnati. They conducted interviews in three states (New York, North Carolina, and Ohio) where the UNGD industry is expected to rapidly expand over the next several years. Those interviewed included community leaders, land owners, government and business representatives, and educators and environmental activists with varied opinions about the prospect of UNGD in their regions. Interviewees were concerned about exposures through air and drinking water and about the cumulative, long-term effects on health and quality of life. Several interviewees noted that expected economic growth could benefit community health because, for example, low-income residents might be better able to afford health care. Other key themes included the importance of transparency in the research process and funding, the need for multiple sources of credible information, and the capacity of government agencies to monitor and enforce protective regulations. Read the recently released white paper for an in-depth look at the assessment, including interviewee quotes, or see the article, published in Reviews on Environmental Health, for a summary.

The National Library of Medicine Environmental Health Student Portal has added "Mercury and Our Health," an animation about the uses of mercury and how exposure can impact human health. The animation introduces children to mercury, describes mercury-containing products and where mercury is found in the environment, and outlines exposure routes and health impacts of exposure. Watch the video with your students and visit the Environmental Health Student Portal Mercury Web page for resources, lesson plans, games, and activities related to mercury and health.

Erin Haynes, Dr.P.H., is director of the Community Outreach and Engagement Core (COEC) within the NIEHS-funded Center for Environmental Genetics at the University of Cincinnati. She is currently leading several community-based research projects in Ohio, which were all prompted by community concerns about local air quality. Most recently, she has been studying air quality in an area with a growing number of fracking sites. Visit the PEPH Grantee Highlights Web Page to read more about Haynes' research and accomplishments.

The latest issue of the NIEHS Environmental Factor features several stories highlighting our PEPH colleagues. Take a moment to catch up with some of the latest projects, events, and activities happening in the PEPH network:

Alaska community forums highlight tribal health disparities. NIEHS and NTP Director Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D., visited St. Lawrence Island and Chickaloon to listen to community members' concerns about environmental contamination.

New study reviews needs for research on health effects of fracking. A new paper by a working group of NIEHS grantees echoes prior recommendations for fracking research but adds a novel twist with a call for community engagement.

Arizona internship program marks ninth year. Funded in part by NIEHS, this summer the University of Arizona gave 45 more high school interns an intensive seven-week enrichment experience in science.

You can find past podcasts on the Environmental Health Chat Web page or subscribe to the series on iTunes.

The October EPA/NIEHS Children's Centers Webinar will focus connecting science and communities. The webinar will take place Wednesday, October 8, 1:00-2:30 p.m. EDT. Register online.

October 5-9, 2014: Eighth International PCB Workshop in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The workshop will provide a forum for experts to coordinate and collaborate on issues of analysis, fate and transport, exposure assessment, metabolism and disposition, toxicity, and public health policy.

October 6-8, 2014: NIEHS Worker Training Program 2014 Fall Awardee Meeting and Workshop on the NIEHS main campus in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. This event will focus on the serious health risks that workers will experience in the face of climate change.

October 26-29, 2014: PPTOX IV in Boston, Massachusetts. PPTOX IV hosts the world's leading experts in endocrinology, toxicology, and environmental health. See the program for information on conference sessions.

November 3-4, 2014: 6th Annual Health Literacy Research Conference in Bethesda, Maryland. This is an interdisciplinary meeting for investigators dedicated to health literacy research.

November 12-14, 2014: 2014 Annual Meeting of the Superfund Research Program in San Jose, California.

November 15-19, 2014: 2014 American Public Health Association in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year's conference theme is "Healthography: How Where You Live Affects Your Health and Well-Being." Let us know if you will be presenting at APHA this year! We will compile the "PEPH at APHA" booklet soon.

November 19-21, 2014: Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California. This year's theme is "New Science, New Activism, New Opportunities." As always, community participation and advocacy concerns will be integrated into the program. There is no fee to attend the meeting, but all participants must be pre-registered.

November 21-22, 2014: NYC Healthy Homes Summit in New York City. Hosted by the community organization WE ACT for Environmental Justice and Columbia's NIEHS Center for Environmental health, the summit will engage community groups, advocates, and government officials to launch a NYC Campaign for healthy and asthma-free homes. Contact Ogonnaya Dotson Newman for more information.

December 1-3, 2014: 2014 National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Grantees' Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. This year's conference theme is "Transdisciplinary Collaborations: Evolving Dimensions of U.S. and Global Health Equity."

February 4-6, 2015: Children's Environmental Health Network 2015 Research Conference in Austin, Texas. The conference will explore how the interaction between food and environmental factors affects children's health. Submit an abstract for an oral or poster presentations by October 17, 2014.

February 11-12, 2015: Citizen Science 2015 in San Jose, California. This is the inaugural conference of the Citizen Science Association. Citizen science participants, researchers, project leaders, educators, technology specialists, evaluators, and others will gather to move the field forward.

Do you have an announcement to share with the PEPH community? Send us your news for the next issue of the PEPH Newsletter (peph@niehs.nih.gov).

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