Air Monitoring Network Builds Baltimore Community’s Capacity to Address Environmental Justice
A waste-to-energy incinerator tower in Baltimore, north of the Curtis Bay area.
Community organizations in the Curtis Bay neighborhood of Baltimore mobilized to form a partnership with researchers after an explosion at a neighboring coal facility in December 2021. The community-academic partners engaged residents in the development and implementation of ongoing air monitoring protocols in Curtis Bay. Efforts focused on understanding hyper-local air pollution near 70 industrial facilities, addressing residents’ environmental justice concerns, and building community capacity to monitor air quality and interact with state regulatory agencies to advocate for conditions that protect residents’ health. The air monitoring strategy is described in a September 2023 paper.
The researchers were from the NIEHS-funded Environmental Health Sciences Core Center at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, the University of Maryland, and the Core Center at the University of California at Davis.
At the 2024 NIEHS Core Centers’ annual meeting, hosted by the Johns Hopkins Center, participants went on a tour of the Curtis Bay area and heard updates on the community-academic partners’ work.
“The scientific and technical capacity of our environmental health sciences core centers academics is helping to build the measurement strategy, but over time, the goal is for our community partners to sustain and adapt this work as their needs evolve,” stated Christopher Heaney, Ph.D., of Johns Hopkins, academic co-leader of the Core Center’s Community Engagement Core. “The annual meeting was an opportunity to share lessons and challenges with other community-academic partners, and we hope this strategy helps others see what can be achieved through a community-engaged research partnership.”
Environmental Justice Concerns in Curtis Bay
While the explosion at the coal terminal triggered this air monitoring project, residents have complained about air pollution for decades, stating that they keep their windows closed to keep out coal dust and that strong odors make their eyes water. Data show that residents of Curtis Bay have higher rates of heart disease and all types of cancer, especially lung cancer, than the rest of Baltimore City. Many residents have friends, family, and neighbors who have become sick or died from cancer or respiratory issues.
As a result of these experiences, residents formed community organizations that address environmental justice and housing issues, including the South Baltimore Community Land Trust and the Community of Curtis Bay Association, each of which is a key partner on this project.
Curtis Bay is a fenceline community, an area adjacent to industrial activity and air pollution sources that may pose risks to residents’ health. It is also home to 70 sources of stationary air pollution regulated by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). These pollutants come from sources such as the city’s coal terminal and incineration facilities. The burning process emits particulate matter, heavy metals, and other toxic chemicals that threaten human health.
Machinery and a conveyer belt work with a coal pile.
Finding Links Between Industrial Activity and Air Quality
The nearest MDE sensors are 10 miles from the Curtis Bay community. To address a lack of local data collection, the community-academic partners set up 10 multi-pollutant air sensors. This network of sensors more accurately measures air pollution within the community than the more distant sensors.
The partners also installed two cameras to monitor activity at the coal terminal. Using the images, the partners can determine activities, such as ships docking and trains arriving, that may indicate coal is being moved around the terminal. The team documents the timing of these activities and merges it with data from the air sensors to determine how industrial activities relate to changes in air pollution burden.
One example of the monitoring strategy occurred when residents noticed an industrial fire near their homes and expressed their concerns to the two community organizations. The community-academic partners used sensor data and the cameras’ visual information to show that at the time of the fire, there were high levels of black carbon, particulate matter, and carbon monoxide. This instance showed how the measurement strategy could gather real-time data for community members and potentially support regulatory action.
An example of an industrial facility similar to those in the Curtis Bay area.
Partnership Facilitates Relationships and Builds Capacity
The community-academic partnership facilitated a relationship between the community and MDE. Before the project, residents expressed distrust of the agency due to past experiences in which MDE reduced air monitoring in the area. Residents also thought the agency had not done enough to regulate local industries. This project brought MDE into collaborative discussions about air monitoring, and now MDE provides technical support to maintain air monitoring through a collaborative grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. There are also regular opportunities for dialogue between community members, academic scientists, and the regulatory agency. The community-academic partners believe this relationship will help inform industrial permitting practices and improve community health.
“MDE’s involvement in the project brings an opportunity for community empowerment over issues they would like addressed through regulatory action,” reflected Heaney. “The community would like more to be done faster, and the dialogue happening around this work and the scientific information it supplies puts residents on a path to get their concerns addressed.”
The community-academic partners’ long-term goal is that residents maintain the monitoring network. Therefore, another aspect of the project involves training community members and students on the measurement network and data analysis. For example, an environmental justice course teaches students about environmental justice issues in Curtis Bay and how to conduct environmental health research. In 2023, these high school students participated in a summer environmental justice scholars program, and members of the first cohort have served as youth mentors for new cohorts.
The partners also continue to expand the air monitoring and pollution measurement strategy. An October 2024 paper includes results of the partners’ research that confirmed residents’ concerns that coal dust is found in residential areas. A September 2024 paper describes a mobile air pollution measurement strategy that addresses community members’ goals to characterize cumulative impacts of both stationary and mobile air pollution. The partners also plan to get a better understanding of the health impacts of air pollution on Curtis Bay residents.
Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units Release Podcast
The Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSUs) released the first episode of a new podcast, Pediatric Environmental Health Radio. The podcast provides information through conversations with experts within the PEHSU network. In the first episode, Marissa Hauptman, M.D., MPH, co-director of the Region 1 PEHSU, and Nick Newman, D.O., Satellite Director of the Region 5 PEHSU, discuss lead exposure in children. PEHSUs are funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the Environmental Protection Agency. They are networks of experts in children’s health related to environmental exposures across 10 regions in the U.S. The networks of experts conduct community education and outreach to make the public, health care professionals, community groups, government agencies, and others aware of children’s environmental health issues. PEHSUs also provide health professional training and offer consultation and referral support related to medical management guidance and evaluation of suspected toxic exposures, among other services.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Requests Public Comment on Considering Cumulative Impacts on Communities
The EPA released a draft of its Interim Framework for Advancing Consideration of Cumulative Impacts in November and is seeking public comment by February 19. Cumulative impacts refer to the totality of exposures to chemical and non-chemical stressors, such as social determinants of health and cultural practices, and their effects on health. The EPA understands the adverse cumulative effects of environmental pollution are borne disproportionately by some communities. The framework is meant to help develop agency-wide approaches in incorporating the consideration of cumulative impacts, with the goal of improving community health and quality of life. The principles set forth in the framework include ensuring that disproportionate, adverse burdens of cumulative impacts are not overlooked, engaging communities and consulting with Tribes to incorporate their lived experience into decision-making, and integrating ways to consider cumulative impacts. An example of an EPA action that used the framework’s principles is the water permitting processes that considers Tribal culture and subsistence use of resources.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Updates Air Quality Analysis Tool
EPA updated their free, open-access tool that allows users to examine air quality data from their own sensors. The tool, REal TIme Geospatial Data Viewer, allows users to plot data from stationary and in-motion sensors and view it alongside data from EPA’s monitors, public air sensors, meteorological stations, and satellites. By incorporating user-supplied data files, the tool can create interactive maps that show information such as how pollution varies by location, time of day, and wind conditions. The updates were made over the summer and allow users to overlay multiple datasets on a single map and to export data for visualization in other platforms. You can learn how to use the tool on the tutorials page.
Extreme Temperature Resources: Applications Open for Community Heat-Related Planning and Monitoring, and New Collection on Health Effects of Extreme Temperatures
The National Integrated Heat Health Information System is accepting applications for two heat-related programs for communities. The Center for Heat Resilient Communities is accepting applications to get financial and technical help in planning for extreme heat. Selected communities will communicate the impacts of extreme heat in their communities, assess their capacity to respond, and design a local plan for heat resilience. Applications are due January 24. You can find more information about the funding opportunity, including the schedule for Q&A sessions, on the Center for Heat Resilient Communities website.
Applications are also open for communities to receive support in monitoring and evaluating factors influencing local heat risk, including collecting heat data through community-led campaigns. Past campaigns have informed local decision-making and education efforts. Applications are due January 17. Learn more on the Center for Collaborative Heat Monitoring website.
The journal Environmental Health Perspectives published a new collection on extreme temperatures in July. The collection focuses on the health impacts of extreme temperatures. Studies cover topics such as the role of aging in heat- and cold-related mortality, the association of ambient temperature with mortality in desert climates, and the influences of sociodemographic factors on heat-attributable mortality.
PEPH Grantee Highlight
Read more about grantee
As an assistant professor at Boston University, Kevin Lane, Ph.D., studies the effects of air pollution and the built environment on human health in the U.S. and abroad. His research often entails using geographic information systems and computer modeling to visualize relationships between populations and exposure data. Among his various activities, Lane contributes to the Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health Study, or CAFEH, an NIEHS-funded project he first worked on as a trainee. Over the past few years, he has widened his focus from road traffic to air travel, exploring how aviation contributes to ultrafine particulate pollution.
Funding Opportunites
PHS 2024-2 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH, CDC, and FDA for Small Business Innovation Research Grant Applications (Parent SBIR [R43/R44] Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
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 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. SBIR applications that propose clinical trial(s) should be submitted to PA-24-246. Small business applicants interested in submitting an STTR grant application should submit to PA-24-247 or PAR-24-248.
Deadlines: January 5, 2025; April 5, 2025
Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Innovative Technologies for Research on Climate Change and Human Health
This NOSI encourages grant applications from small business concerns to develop commercializable tools, resources, and approaches to capture the effects of climate change and the associated impacts of extreme weather events on human health, and to support adaptation or mitigation strategies to minimize health hazards and impacts from climate change. Technologies may include new approaches for detecting climate change-associated exposures, including temperature and air quality, training tools on climate change and mitigation strategies for patients with underlying health conditions, intervention approaches for reducing contaminants in water or in indoor air, modeling and prediction tools for climate change-related weather events and related health effects, and technologies for delivery of health care, including mental health services to communities during extreme weather events. This NOSI supports NIEHS’ Climate Change and Health Initiative. Applications are to be submitted through the SBIR (PA-24-245 or PA-24-246) or STTR (PA-24-247 or PAR-24-248) solicitations.
Deadlines: January 5, 2025; April 5, 2025
Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Research on the Health of Women of Underrepresented, Underserved, and Underreported (U3) Populations (Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)
Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Research on the Health of Women of Underrepresented, Underserved, and Underreported (U3) Populations (Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional). Encourages rigorous, collaborative, interdisciplinary research on the differential risk, treatment outcomes, and morbidity experienced by populations of women who are underrepresented, underserved, and underreported in biomedical research across the lifespan. Thoughtful incorporation of intersectionality and culturally and contextually relevant approaches into research by applying the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Framework to meet group- and population-level needs is encouraged. Partnership between early career and independent investigators is encouraged to strengthen and accelerate multidisciplinary research in this space. The I-Corps program will be supported through administrative supplement awards to active SBIR (NIH and CDC) and STTR (NIH only) Phase I recipients. Administrative supplement awards are intended only to support travel and other direct costs associated with the training program. A cohort (up to 24 teams per cohort) will be selected to participate in the I-Corps at NIH program, which lasts approximately eight weeks.
Deadline: January 22, 2025
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Research Training Grant (Parent T32)
These grants provide support to eligible, domestic institutions to develop and/or enhance predoctoral and postdoctoral research training, including short-term research training, to ensure a diverse and highly trained workforce is available to meet the needs of the nation’s biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research agenda. Research training programs are expected to incorporate engaging, didactic, research, and career development elements to prepare trainees for careers that will have a significant impact on the health-related research needs of the nation.
Deadlines: January 25, 2025; May 25, 2025; September 25, 2025
Innovation Corps (I-Corps TM) at NIH Program for NIH and CDC Translational Research (Admin Supp Clinical Trial NOT Allowed)
Provides three-member project teams with access to instruction and mentoring to accelerate the translation of technologies currently being developed with NIH and CDC SBIR and STTR funding. The participants conduct market research to identify where the company's technology can have greatest impact on unmet clinical needs.
Deadline: January 31, 2025
Time-Sensitive Research Opportunities in Environmental Health Sciences (R21 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)
Supports novel environmental health research in which an unpredictable event or policy change provides a limited window of opportunity to collect human biological samples or environmental exposure data. The goals of this funding opportunity are to foster understanding of human health effects of exposure to environmental agents in the hope that these studies will lead to: the identification of agents that pose a hazard and threat of disease, disorders, and defects in humans; the development of effective public health or disease prevention strategies; the overall improvement of human health effects due to environmental agents; the development of products and technologies designed to better study or ameliorate the effects of environmental agents; and the successful training of research scientists in all areas of environmental health research.
Deadlines: February 3, 2025; April 1, 2025; June 2, 2025
Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Supports studies that will identify, develop, and/or test strategies for overcoming barriers to the adoption, adaptation, integration, sustainability, scale-up, and spread of evidence-based interventions, practices, programs, tools, treatments, guidelines, and policies. Studies that promote equitable dissemination and implementation of evidence-based interventions among underrepresented communities are encouraged. Conversely, there is a benefit in understanding circumstances that create a need to stop or reduce (de-implement) the use of practices that are ineffective, unproven, low-value, or harmful. In addition, studies to advance dissemination and implementation research methods and measures are encouraged. Applications that focus on re-implementation of evidence-based health services that may be disrupted amidst disasters (e.g., pandemics, climate change) remain relevant. Funding opportunities are also open for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) and Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (R21 Clinical Trial Optional).
Deadlines: February 5, 2025; June 5, 2025
Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Implementation Science for Climate Change and Health
This notice encourages applications that pursue innovative approaches to identifying, understanding, and developing strategies for overcoming barriers to the adoption, adaptation, integration, scale-up, and sustainability of evidence-based climate and health interventions. For promising interventions with limited effectiveness data, hybrid studies that assess both effectiveness and implementation are encouraged.
Deadline: February 5, 2025
Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity (K99/R00 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Supports a cohort of early career, independent investigators from diverse backgrounds (for example, individuals from underrepresented groups) conducting research in NIH mission areas. The program has two components: an individual career transition award for postdoctoral scholars (K99/R00) and a research education cooperative agreement (UE5) awarded to organizations to provide these scholars with additional mentoring, networking, and professional development activities to support their transition to and success in independent, tenure-track or equivalent research-intensive faculty careers. This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is designed specifically to support candidates proposing research that does not involve leading an independent clinical trial, a clinical trial feasibility study, or an ancillary clinical trial. Candidates seeking support through this NOFO are permitted to propose a research experience in a clinical trial led by a mentor or co-mentor. Candidates proposing a clinical trial or an ancillary clinical trial as lead investigator, should work with their institutions to apply to the companion NOFO PAR-24-226. Candidates proposing to work on basic experimental studies with humans should apply to PAR-24-227.
Deadlines: February 12, 2025; June 12, 2025
Academic Research Enhancement Award for Undergraduate-Focused Institutions (R15 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
The purpose of this Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) for Undergraduate-Focused Institutions is to support small scale research grants at institutions that do not receive substantial NIH funding, with an emphasis on providing biomedical research experiences primarily for undergraduate students and enhancing the research environment at applicant institutions. Eligible institutions must award baccalaureate science degrees and have received no more than $6 million per year of NIH support (in both direct and F&A/indirect costs) in four of the last seven fiscal years. For institutions composed of multiple schools and colleges, the $6 million funding limit is based on the amount of NIH funding received by all the non-health professional schools and colleges within the institution as a whole. NIEHS is interested in applications with a research focus on exposure-health related responses from environmental agents within the mission interest of the NIEHS (e.g., industrial chemicals or manufacturing byproducts, metals, pesticides, herbicides, air pollutants and other inhaled toxicants, particulates or fibers, fungal, and bacterial or biologically derived toxins).
Deadlines: February 25, 2025; June 25, 2025; October 25, 2025
Research Enhancement Award Program (REAP) for Health Professional Schools and Graduate Schools (R15 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Supports small scale research grants at institutions that do not receive substantial NIH funding, with an emphasis on providing biomedical research experiences primarily for health professional, undergraduate students, and graduate students, and enhancing the research environment at applicant institutions. The research project must involve health professional, undergraduate and/or graduate students, and the research team must be composed primarily of health professional, undergraduate and/or graduate students. Student involvement in the research project may include participation in the design of experiments and controls, collection and analysis of data, execution and troubleshooting of experiments, participation in research meetings, and discussion of future directions. NIEHS is interested in applications with a research focus on exposure-health related responses from environmental agents within the mission interest of the NIEHS (e.g., industrial chemicals or manufacturing byproducts, metals, pesticides, herbicides, air pollutants and other inhaled toxicants, particulates or fibers, fungal, and bacterial or biologically derived toxins).
Deadlines: February 25, 2025; June 25, 2025; October 25, 2025
Transformative Research to Address Health Disparities and Advance Health Equity (U01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Supports unusually innovative intervention research addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) which, if successful, would have a major impact on preventing, reducing, or eliminating health disparities and advancing health equity. Projects should clearly demonstrate, based on the strength of the logic, a compelling potential to produce a major impact on advancing NIH’s commitment to addressing SDOH to accelerate progress in improving health for all. Preliminary data are not required for this initiative. NIEHS is interested in innovative intervention research that addresses the interaction of SDOH with chemical and other environmental exposures that compromise health and contribute to health disparities. Applications responsive to NIEHS are required to clearly identify the environmental exposure(s) of interest and describe the intersection of the exposure(s) with SDOH. The use of a conceptual model demonstrating the relationship of SDOH with the environmental exposure(s) of interest is highly encouraged.
Deadline: February 28, 2025
Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers Program (P30 Clinical Trials Optional)
The overall goals for the Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers (EHSCC) Program are to enhance the capabilities of existing programs in environmental health sciences, assist with building programmatic and scientific capacity, lead in the development of novel research directions, recruit and prepare future leaders in the field, and pioneer efforts in community engagement. Ultimately the EHSCC should create a flexible structure that allows center members with different expertise to come together to answer complex and/or emerging questions, capitalize on the latest scientific trends, and accelerate the translation of research. NIEHS considers community engagement and multi-directional communication as essential activities to advance the goals and relevance of an EHSCC. Therefore, the structure of the Center should facilitate multi-directional interaction with communities and EHSCC members through the required Community Engagement Core. To qualify for an EHSCC, the applicant institution must have a base of ongoing, independently supported, peer-reviewed research projects clearly dedicated to the study of environmental health sciences. The research base must exist before the submission of an application and will be considered by program staff to determine eligibility.
Deadline: March 18, 2025
Support for Research Excellence (SuRE) Award (R16 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Supports research capacity building at institutions that award baccalaureate and/or graduate degrees in biomedical sciences and receive limited NIH Research Project Grant funding. SuRE-supported projects must have student participation in the execution, analysis, and reporting of the research. An applicant institution must demonstrate a commitment to build its research capacity and support for the program director/principal investigator of the award. This funding opportunity requires a Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives as described in NOT-MH-21-310, submitted as Other Project Information as an attachment (see Section IV). Applications submitted to this funding opportunity for consideration by NIEHS must have a research focus on exposure-health-related responses from environmental agents within the mission interest of NIEHS (e.g., industrial chemicals or manufacturing byproducts, metals, pesticides, herbicides, air pollutants and other inhaled toxicants, particulates or fibers, fungal, and bacterial or biologically derived toxins). The Support for Research Excellence – First Independent Research (SuRE-First) Award (R16 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed) is also open. The purpose of this funding opportunity is to support faculty investigators who have not had prior independent external research grants, to furnish students with high-quality undergraduate and/or graduate research experiences and to enhance the institutional scientific research culture.
Deadline: May 28, 2025
PEPH-Related News
Upcoming PEPH-related Events
Air Monitoring and Community Engagement – Session IV: Translation of Data to Inform Decision Making – Working with Community Partners to Collect, Translate, and Disseminate Findings (webinar). This PEPH webinar is part of a series on air monitoring and community engagement. The webinar will highlight innovative partnerships between academic researchers and community organizations that have used air monitoring data to address environmental justice and air pollution disparities. Register for the PEPH webinar.
U.S. Department of Transportation Webinar: Navigating Climate Challenges and Enhancing Transportation Resilience (webinar). This webinar is part of a series on climate change and transportation, hosted by the Department of Transportation’s Climate Change Center. Register for the transportation resilience webinar.
Our Planet, Our Health: 2025 Climate Action Convention - The Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health (MSCCH) (Washington, DC). The MSCCH convention will bring together leaders, experts, and advocates in health and sustainability. The convention will provide insights on research into the links between ecological drivers and health outcomes, explore strategies for building resilience and equity in the face of climate challenges, and inform on ways to advocate effectively for policy change. Registration will open soon. Abstract submissions for posters or oral presentations are open. Registration for the conference will open at a later date.
CAFÉ Climate and Health Conference (virtual). The second annual climate and health conference will be hosted by the Boston University School of Public Health and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health CAFÉ (Convene, Accelerate, Foster, and Expand) Research Coordinating Center of the NIH Climate Change and Health Initiative. The conference is an interdisciplinary opportunity for students, researchers, and others across the climate and health field to share research and engage in discussions on policy, research translation, community engagement, capacity building, data needs, and gaps in the field. More information and a conference agenda will be available in early 2025. The conference will take place virtually. Pre-conference workshop registration opens January 7, 2025. Abstract proposals are due January 7, 2025. Registration for the CAFÉ conference is now open.
Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences: 2025 Conference for Advancing Participatory Sciences (Portland, Oregon). The 2025 Conference for Advancing the Participatory Sciences will feature workshops, collaborative discussions, networking events, and symposia to promote the participatory sciences. The conference brings together researchers, facilitators, and community leaders. The call for individual presentations is open until January 15, 2025. Registration for the conference will open in early 2025.
International Society of Exposure Science (ISES)-International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) Joint Annual Meeting (Atlanta, Georgia). The 2025 ISES-ISEE annual meeting will focus on the theme, “Global Environmental Health Equity Across the Lifespan.” The meeting will feature the latest research in environmental epidemiology and exposure science and provide researchers with opportunities to develop collaborations. The meeting will feature a tour of Atlanta neighborhoods, in partnership with community-based organizations, to show how research has helped decrease exposures to pollutants. The call for workshops and the call for symposia are open until January 31, 2025. The call for abstracts and meeting registration will open in early 2025.
Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS) 2025 Conference (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). The theme of the 2025 IAPHS annual conference will be “Community Engagement in Population Health Science” to recognize that communities hold the solutions to population health challenges and health inequities. The conference will include talks on methods, funding, and translation to policy.
American Public Health Association (APHA) 2025 Annual Meeting (Washington, DC). The call for abstracts for this annual meeting will open on January 6, 2025. More information about the meeting will be available soon.
