Abstract
Building capacity to incorporate environmental health sciences research on vaping into adolescent education
Dana Haine, MS1, Kathleen Gray, PhD, MSPH1, Elise Hickman1, Lisa Hayward, PhD2, Cait Fallone, MA3, Katrina Korfmacher, PhD3, Dina Markowitz, PhD3, Jackie Curnick, MDP4 and Brandi Janssen, PhD4
(1)University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, (2)University of Washington, Seattle, WA, (3)University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, (4)University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
APHA's 2020 VIRTUAL Annual Meeting and Expo (Oct. 24 - 28)
According to the CDC, an estimated 5 million US middle and high school students reported using e-cigarettes in 2019, an increase of 1.4 million over 2018. This raises concern about youth addiction to nicotine as well as unknown respiratory effects of e-liquid constituents such as flavorings. Public health professionals, teachers, and parents are actively seeking preventive approaches, most of which focus on nicotine addiction. One underexplored strategy is integration of vaping as an environmental health issue into these approaches, representing a novel contribution to the public health response. In 2019, Community Engagement Cores from the following NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers were funded to develop and disseminate educational materials on the topic of vaping and respiratory health: the Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility (UNC-Chapel Hill), the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center (University of Iowa), the Environmental Health Sciences Center (University of Rochester Medical Center), and the Center for Exposures, Diseases, Genomics and Environment (University of Washington). We will describe the development of educational activities in collaboration with scientists to promote engagement with emergent data on the health effects of e-cigarettes. These materials convey key environmental health and toxicology concepts related to air pollution, reinforced through discussion of e-liquids, aerosols derived from e-liquids, and respiratory system structure and function. We will describe our strategies for increasing educator knowledge about e-cigarettes and the health effects of flavored e-cigarettes through professional development workshops. Building educators’ capacity to incorporate emerging environmental health sciences research into formal and informal learning contexts, including secondary science and health instruction, will enable learners to examine the evidence that some e-cigarette flavorings harm the respiratory immune system and that certain individuals, such as asthmatics, are especially susceptible. We expect these educational materials will improve participants’ environmental health literacy and encourage health-protective decision making among adolescents.
Environmental health sciences
Abstract
EPA research planning: Core to addressing public health challenges
Megan Fleming, MA1 and Bruce Rodan, MB BS, M Env.S, MPH2
(1)U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Washington, DC, (2)U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC
APHA's 2020 VIRTUAL Annual Meeting and Expo (Oct. 24 - 28)
EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) provides the scientific foundation for EPA to fulfill its mandate to help Agency, state, and other partners address their most pressing environmental and public health challenges. ORD recently completed its latest research planning process, which resulted in updated Strategic Research Action Plans (StRAPs) for FY19-22 for each of ORD’s six national research programs. This public health-related research covers air, water, land, toxic chemicals, homeland security, and risk assessment. In accordance with ORD’s strategic measure to increase the percentage of research products that meet customer needs, a major component of ORD’s research planning involved ongoing partner engagement with EPA program and regional offices, states, and tribes to ensure that ORD’s research portfolio is well-formulated and aligned with Agency priorities and the needs of our partners. Planning began in early 2018 with problem identification, during which ORD worked closely with partners to understand their specific environmental concerns and relative importance, and to determine the best approaches for investigating and solving problems. Following independent external peer review of the draft StRAPS, Research Area Coordination Teams were formed to further define the details of the research outputs and products. These Teams included a broad representation of Agency partners, along with a pilot program to engage state government scientists and a formal Tribal Consultation. This presentation summarizes this research planning process, while highlighting planned research on priority public health topics, such as PFAS, Lead, and implementation of the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, including new approach methods (NAMs) for high-throughput testing of toxic chemicals. The applied nature of EPA research is emphasized through its solutions-driven research approach in close and ongoing collaboration with affected communities, on such public health priorities as advanced septic systems to reduce nitrate pollution and ways to protect citizens from wildfire smoke.
Environmental health sciences Program planning Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines Public health or related public policy Public health or related research
Abstract
Integrating clinical and public health data after chemical disasters: A case study from a multidisciplinary workshop in tucson, Arizona
Aubrey Miller, MD, MPH1, April Bennett, M.S.2, Steve Ramsey, MPH3, Karen Lutrick, PhD4, J. Perren Cobb, MD, FACS, FCCM5, Joy Lee Pearson, MA, CPH6 and Betsy Eagin Galluzzo, MPH7
(1)National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, (2)National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, (3)Social & Scientific Systems, Durham, NC, (4)University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, (5)Keck Hospital of USC, Glendale, CA, (6)NIEHS National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety and Health Training/ MDB, Inc, Washington, DC, (7)National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety and Health Training/ MDB, Inc., Washington DC, DC
APHA's 2020 VIRTUAL Annual Meeting and Expo (Oct. 24 - 28)
The NIH Disaster Research Response (DR2) Program, a collaborative effort between the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Library of Medicine (NLM), reduces the time required to initiate (or launch) time-critical public health investigations after disasters. DR2 provides public access to a growing repository of disaster research tools and materials that can be adapted to facilitate rapid field data collection activities, as well as provide training and information for those involved in these response efforts. Training workshops including over 300 participants have been conducted in Los Angeles, Houston, and Boston. These workshops bring together local, state, and federal public health and emergency response offices, community members, worker organizations, private industries, and other stakeholders to better understand how time-critical data collection and research can be included as part of response and recovery. Workshops, through the planning process, build local capacity for research and begin to introduce the concept to transdisciplinary teams.
The most recent training workshop was conducted in partnership with the University of Arizona in Tucson and explored the development, implementation, and integration of exposure, clinical, and population-based investigations in response to a scenario involving over 5,000 people exposed to toxic chemicals due to a train derailment. For the first time, this workshop included clinicians in local Emergency Departments, local poison control centers and pharmacists. Discussion included not only the role(s) for researchers, local government and community members after a chemical incident, but also the integration of data across the spectrum of care, from clinical treatments and admissions, to understanding population impacts and environmental assessment and remediation. This presentation will focus on lessons learned regarding efforts to develop a local plan for time-critical clinical care, exposure data collection, and vital research in response to acute and longitudinal chemical exposures through extensive interdisciplinary interactions, expertise, and collaborations.
Clinical medicine applied in public health Environmental health sciences Epidemiology Occupational health and safety Public health or related research
Abstract
Priorities and issues in reporting environmental health data to communities: A concept mapping approach
Erin Lebow-Skelley, MPH1, Sarah Yelton, MS2, Brandi Janssen, PhD3, Esther Erdei, PhD, MPH., MSc. Hons.4 and Melanie Pearson, PhD1
(1)Emory University, Atlanta, GA, (2)University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, (3)University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, (4)University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
APHA's 2020 VIRTUAL Annual Meeting and Expo (Oct. 24 - 28)
Environmental health researchers collect environmental exposure data from individuals and communities. Reporting these exposure results back to research participants is recommended by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and yet its implementation still faces challenges and debate. Researchers need further guidance and support from decision-makers to improve the practice of report-back and do no harm to communities in the process. As such, we hosted a Group Concept Mapping workshop during the NIEHS 2018 Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH) Annual Meeting to identify issues and priorities in reporting back environmental health research results, with the goal of identifying areas for action. Twenty-nine attendees participated in the workshop, which asked participants to brainstorm responses to “What are some specific issues that are relevant to reporting back research results to individuals or the larger community?” Participants then individually grouped the brainstormed statements by similarity and rated each statement. Using Concept System Global MAX software, we created visual maps of the responses using nonmetric multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis. The resulting two-dimensional concept map provides a visual and spatial depiction of five issue areas relevant to reporting back research results: Institutional Review and Oversight, Community Knowledge and Concerns, Effective Communication Strategies, Uncertainty, and Empowering Action. Group Concept Mapping helped to identify these five distinct themes within a very complex topic that may help to prioritize areas of action for decision-makers and the broader environmental health community. Concept map results and recommendations will be presented to improve the practice of reporting back and effectively communicating research results.
Communication and informatics Environmental health sciences Public health or related research