Environmental and respiratory health across the lifespan in Mongolia

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Mongolia/ Southern California Environmental Health Research and Training Center (MSCEHRTC) will provide training and research opportunities in a partnership between Health Sciences University of Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar and University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, the United States. The major focus of the MSCEHRTC is on the consequences of atmospheric pollution and the introduction of sustainable control technologies on environmental health across the lifespan in Mongolia. Air pollution is becoming an increasingly serious problem in Ulaanbaatar with ground level air pollution, measured in terms of particulate matter (PM), estimated to be >200 times maximum acceptable standards. The training and research objectives will be accomplished by in-country short- and long-term training opportunities as well as opportunities in the US for graduate degrees, visiting scholarships, and short term training at USC and Children's Hospital Los Angeles as well as at affiliated centers sponsored by NHLBI, NIEHS and Southern California Air Quality Management District. Funding for the program will include the $250,000 per year from the FIC as well as real dollar matches of >$25,000 per year each from The Saban Research Institute, The Saban Family Foundation, the Pasadena Guild Endowment, plus available competitive training scholarships from the USC Global Health Institute, Saban Research Institute, NIEHS Environmental Health Institute USC, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine the Ulan Bator Foundation, as well as Anonymous Private Philanthropy. The program will be sustainable because in response to evidence based approaches by ourselves and other collaborators, The Government of Mongolia has recently demonstrated its practical commitment to the reduction of air pollution through efforts funded under the Millennium Challenge Grant to distribute more efficient stoves to Ger dwellers. This effort is being implemented by several major Mongolian banks, the Ministry of Mining and Natural Resources, The Ministry of Energy and the National Agency for Meteorology and the Environment of Mongolia (NAMEM) and its National Office of Air Quality (NAQO) which is equipped to monitor air quality nationwide. To achieve sustainable improvements in pollution control we have enlisted the enthusiastic policy collaboration of Dr. Oyun who is a an Oxford-educated Chevening Scholar, Member of Mongolian Parliament, Leader of the Women's Caucus, former Foreign Minister and leading member of the "Clean Air Group" in the Grand Khuraltai. She is an expert advocate for sustainable policy, working within the Mongolian government structure, who lives in Ulaanbaatar and thus appreciates the importance of urgent evidence-based action on air pollution in her capital city. She will co-chair our international advisory committee and will act as a friend and mentor to recruit, retain and develop MSCEHRTC program graduates to affect sustainable evidence-based change on the consequences of air pollution across the lifespan at the national policy and implementation level in Mongolia.