Importance of community engagement: Contributions from Centers for Children's Environmental Healtlh

With a goal of protecting our children from environmental threats and promoting their health in the communities where they live, learn, and play, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the Centers for Children’s Environmental Health in 1998. These Centers bring together basic scientists, social scientists, pediatricians, public health professionals, and community organizations to improve the health and environments of children. These collaborative teams are examining critical issues such as, pregnancy and birth outcomes; asthma; and neurodevelopmental and neurobehavioral disorders. To ensure the research can be used effectively to prevent, reduce, or mitigate potentially harmful environmental exposure, all Centers have Community Outreach and Translation Cores (COTCs) and some employ community-engaged research approaches. Community engagement connects the Center's science with issues that are identified as locally relevant by communities or stakeholders and may often complement the research strengths and problem-solving goal of the Center. In some instances their translational work is used to inform public health and land use decisions.

This presentation will provide an overview of the COTCs and the Centers’ community-engaged research efforts, and highlight their contributions to children’s environmental health. In addition, it will set the stage for presentations from COTC members from three Centers.