Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant) The mission of the Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (SWEHSC) is to understand the mechanisms behind the modulation of human disease risk by environmental exposures. This is essential to the long-term goal of bringing an improvement to the lives of the people of the Southwest by developing rational approaches to mitigating their risks of hazardous environmental exposures and by maximizing their protective environmental exposures. The geographic location of the SWEHSC, with its rich Hispanic and Native American cultural heritage, provides unique opportunities for basic environmental health sciences research to impact the health of these minority populations. Moreover, the strengthening of ties between SWEHSC faculty and academic and governmental agencies in northern Mexico will facilitate the enhancement of bi-national initiatives in the environmental health sciences, with the real ability to improve public health along the U.S./Mexico border. Focusing the investigators' efforts on arid environment, diseases, and people common to the Southwest will allow broad translation to global stakeholders with similar populations and environments. Research at SWEHSC is coordinated within themes. Leaders of each thematic area have been charged with developing interdisciplinary groups aimed at integrating investigators with diverse expertise to produce environmental health deliverables through the incorporation of key elements of the investigators' philosophy for environmental health science, including i) a human/translational focus, ii) defining protective as well as harmful environmental exposures, iii) viewing environmental problems through an international perspective, and iv) utilizing cutting edge technology to enable systems-level biological analysis. The SWEHSC embraces 4 major scientific themes: Southwest Hazardous Environmental Exposure (RFG1), Environmental Lung Diseases (RFG2), ROS and Disease Prevention (RFG3), and Exposure, Fate, and Disposition (RFG4). The research efforts of SWEHSC are complemented by four Facility Cores (FC) offering state-of-the-art instrumentation and expertise to assist investigators in developing and utilizing cutting-edge technologies: Cellular Imaging, Genomics, Proteomics, and Integrative Health Sciences Facility Core. The Administrative Core provides enrichment programs, including seminars, workshops, an annual Science Fair, newsletters, and supports the activities of the Internal and External Advisory Boards. The SWEHSC also promotes innovative research through the Pilot Project Program, and in the recruitment of new investigators. The Career Development Core provides mentoring to junior investigators and cross-training of researchers in current techniques to enhance the environmental health science research programs of fellows and clinicians, and for bench researchers establishing human studies research. The Community Outreach and Education Core (COEC) supports the SWEHSC mission of community involvement by translating and disseminating the research findings of SWEHSC scientists. During the next five years SWEHSC will continue to extend basic environmental health sciences research into the public health and clinical arenas. Such "translational" initiatives are integral to the goals of SWEHSC.