2012-2017
S T R A T E G I C P L A N
Advancing Science, Improving Health:
A Plan for Environmental Health Research
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Advancing Science, Improving Health:
A Plan for Environmental Health Research
National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences
S T R A T E G I C P L A N
2 0 1 2 - 2 0 1 7
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
NIH Publication No. 12-7935
Contents
Mission and Vision ........................................................................................................ 1
Director’s Message ...................................................................................................... 2
Theme 1: Fundamental Research .................................................................................3
Theme 2: Exposure Research .......................................................................................4
Theme 3:Translational Science .................................................................................... 5
Theme 4: Health Disparities and Global Environmental Health.................................. 6
Theme 5:Training and Education ................................................................................. 7
Theme 6: Communications and Engagement ..............................................................8
CrosscuttingTheme: Knowledge Management ..........................................................9
CrosscuttingTheme: Collaborative and Integrative Approaches................................. 9
NIEHS Strategic Goals ......................................................................................... 10-15
Process for Development of NIEHS Strategic Plan ................................................... 16
NIEHS Strategic Plan Participants ........................................................................ 17-19
Communications
and
Engagement
Training
and
Education
Health Disparities
and
Global Environmental Health
Exposure
Research
Translational
Science
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
S T R A T E G I C P L A N
Mission
The mission of the National Institute
of Environmental Health Sciences
is to discover how the
environment affects people
in order to promote
healthier lives.
Strategic Themes
for Environmental
Health Sciences
Vision
The vision of the National Institute
of Environmental Health Sciences is to
provide global leadership for innovative
research that improves public health by
preventing disease and disability.
1
Director’s Message
I am pleased to introduce the new 2012-2017 Strategic Plan for the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). NIEHS research provides the critical scientific
foundation for essential public health and disease prevention activities.The more we
know about environmental exposures and how they affect health outcomes, the greater
our ability to create healthy environments and improve our health by reducing or preventing
hazardous exposures. NIEHS research informs policy decisions related to disease prevention
at all levels: individual, community, national, and global. At all these levels, NIEHS supplies
leadership to those interested and working in environmental health sciences.
The Institute undertook a transparent and inclusive process to develop this strategic plan.We at NIEHS were very energized and
excited as the process unfolded. So many visionary ideas, such productive dialogue — so many passionate and engaged people
from throughout the global environmental health sciences community worked with us to get to this point! We are deeply grateful
for everyone’s hard work and for the passion they brought to the overall task of considering the best way forward for the field of
environmental health sciences.
These ideas are reflected in our new mission and vision. A good mission statement should say clearly what our purpose is.
The new formulation of our mission remains true to our statutory purpose and puts our science right up front in the word discover.
Additionally, and most importantly, it ties our research — understanding environmental effects on people’s health — to an
ultimate goal of promoting healthier lives. Our updated vision statement, which defines where are going over the next 5-10 years,
emphasizes the pivotal role that NIEHS can play in providing leadership to catalyze worldwide efforts focused on environmental
health sciences.
In this document, we present a set of descriptive strategic themes, as well as a collection of more specific strategic goals.
NIEHS, with the help of our stakeholders, has identified these themes and goals as priority areas for the field.The themes are
a more general description of the areas, within the field of environmental health sciences, that NIEHS recognizes as important
domains for targeted efforts that support the NIEHS mission and vision. As illustrated in the diagram on the previous page, all six
of the core themes together with the two crosscutting themes are highly integrated and overlapping, reflecting the interdisciplinary
nature of environmental health sciences.The themes give context to the goals, which are the more tightly focused areas identified
as priorities by NIEHS, on which we expect to see progress over the next 5 years. As implementation of the strategic plan goes
forward, the themes will define the playing field and the goals will be the actual areas of focus and resource allocation. Some of
these priority goals represent current strengths of NIEHS — for others, the Institute has identified new directions for the field that
will answer novel questions and require state-of-the-art capabilities.
As we move toward implementation, it is important to emphasize that all the areas identified under the themes and goals
were not intended to be addressed by NIEHS alone. Our expectation is that they will be considered a framework for the field of
environmental health sciences, whose needs and goals are greater than the resources that can be provided solely by the Institute.
NIEHS will pursue partnerships and coordinated strategies to achieve these goals.The Institute will prioritize its own resources
towards achieving these goals, and will actively work to provide the global leadership defined by our new vision statement to
establish the alliances and coordination that will be required to make progress towards these goals.We want their pursuit and
achievement to be a partnership enterprise throughout the world.
NIEHS and the environmental health sciences community have made great strides in identifying and understanding the role of
environment in health and disease. NIEHS investments have had a significant, measurable public health impact.This Strategic
Plan is an attempt to build on these efforts, provide fresh perspective, and bring new understanding to problems in environmental
health through application of innovative knowledge and problem-solving.We hope that the themes and goals will provide the
framework for setting expectations for what can be accomplished and how we will get there.We are all eagerly anticipating
progress on these goals and we hope you share our enthusiasm for the exciting opportunities that await us.
2
Theme 1: Fundamental Research
Understanding
Fundamental research investigates the basic biological processes of how our bodies
function, and of the pathways and systems that are susceptible to the effects of
the biology that
environmental stressors. This research addresses all levels of biological organization —
defines basic
molecular, biochemical pathway, cellular, tissue, organ, model organism, human, and
mechanisms
population — and builds on the knowledge from new tools and techniques that allow us to
ask more in-depth questions about the effects of our environment on biological systems.
of response to
environmental
These new research questions arise from our expanding knowledge of the genome,
stressors and the
epigenome, and regulation of gene expression, and appreciation of direct effects
of stressors on cells that do not involve genomic targets. They call for systems and
implications for
computational approaches, and recognition of the importance of changes in sensitivity
human health
to environmental stressors at different life stages, e.g., prenatal, pregnancy, old age.
Environmental agents can have direct toxicities and can also influence biological processes
that affect susceptibility to other agents. The study of biological systems in response to specific environmental agents
represents an area of overlap with Theme 2. The research under this theme and Theme 2 can be thought of as the
fundamental knowledge base of prevention science for environmental health, because understanding the mechanisms
of disease will help us reduce the incidence of disease and mortality in susceptible populations. Through this research,
we hope to create a foundation that will enable us to better understand the links between exposures and disease.
Contributions from epidemiology and population biology studies are a critical component of Theme 1. Observational
population-based research provides the real-world reflection of the questions being asked by laboratory science and, in
turn, can provide observations that can generate the need for mechanistic understanding. Sometimes, relationships are
only evident as a result of looking at exposures and health outcomes together in a population setting. At the same time,
interdisciplinary, integrative, and collaborative approaches are necessary. For example, we need to develop better tools
for data integration, systems, and computational biology. We must also leverage existing human cohort studies with
well-characterized exposure and health information to address the role of environmental exposures in disease etiology.
Environmental health sciences
is undergoing a conceptual
shift. New understanding of how
low level, common exposures
contribute to the development
of widespread disorders,
like diabetes, developmental
delays, and other health
problems, is changing the
traditional paradigm of
environmental health research.
3
MyAir
MyHealth
Theme 2: Exposure Research
Understanding
This theme focuses on the study of environmental exposures themselves — internal and
external — not just chemical environmental pollutants, but also exposures arising from
how the complex
a variety of sources, such as the microbiome, infectious agents, nutritional sources, and
nature of
stress. Key research needs include technology development for exposure measurement,
exposures,
including better biological markers, new sensor and detector tools, remote detection of
exposures, more sensitive analytical methods, high-throughput predictive pharmacokinetic
at the individual
models, and informatics tools to improve quantitation of information on exposure from
and population
large datasets. This theme also intersects with Theme 1, since new metrics of exposures
levels, contributes
include biological effects on key pathways involved in disease pathogenesis.
to health
New systems-based approaches to exposure science are now emerging that utilize omics
outcomes
technologies. This approach recognizes that environmentally related health and disease
are the result of the totality of a person’s environmental exposures, from all sources and routes, across the life span.
This totality of exposure is what we are describing in this document as the exposome, a concept that has become
increasingly salient in the field of environmental health sciences. Part of our strategic direction will be to engage the
scientific community in the effort to clearly define the exposome and to create research opportunities to explore it.
The My Air, My Health Challenge from NIEHS, the EPA, and HHS will tap into the ingenuity of American
problem solvers to develop innovative solutions that connect timely, location-specific air pollution data
and human health measurements, to provide a more detailed picture of air quality’s impact on our health.
For more information on the challenge, visit http://www.niehs.nih.gov/funding/challenges/index.cfm.
Lung-on-a-chip photo courtesy of Don Ingber, Wyss Institute at Harvard University
4
Theme 3: Translational Science
Transdisciplinary
Research that moves a basic science observation into a public health or medical application
is sometimes termed translational science. Translational science is Theme 3, in recognition
environmental
of the fact that our research priorities must include this kind of applied, outcome-oriented
health science
research, for us to ensure that the full benefit of all of our research investments can be
to inform
realized as part of public health, medical, regulatory, and individual practice. This theme
embraces broad, interdisciplinary approaches — molecule to cell to model organism to human
individual,
to society and back again, as informed by public health imperatives.
clinical, and
While translational approaches in medical research are sometimes referred to as bench-to-
public health
bedside, NIEHS research results in much broader applications, which have in common
decision-making
an emphasis on preventing adverse health consequences from environmental exposure.
to improve health
NIEHS research moves through multiple translational pathways, not just to the bedside,
but to the community, to individual behaviors and choices, and to wider public policy changes
and public health practice.
Predictive toxicology is one key component of this theme. The overall goal for the Tox21 program is to take observations
obtained from the study of biological pathways and deploy them in a new framework, to provide specific information for
making decisions about risk.
Environmental health translational science has been underutilized in the context of state-of-the-art medical practice.
In the paradigm known as personalized medicine, biomedical researchers are giving providers the tools to use genomic
information to make better individual decisions about diagnosis and treatment that are tailored to the biology of the
specific patient. Knowledge of environmental exposure needs to be incorporated into this decision-making framework.
Environmental health translational research can introduce, into medical decision-making, a new level of information about
gene-environment interactions affecting drugs, biologics, infections, and other environmental factors in health and disease.
One important component of this theme is to enhance NIEHS use of metrics of comparative effectiveness in environmental
health to inform health economics. A key need in this area is to develop tools and methods to evaluate the impact of
environmental health research, including contributions to prevention of disease, that is systematic and transparent.
For more information on the Tox21 program, visit http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/tox21 and search for Tox 21.
The overall goal
for the current
Tox21 program is
to take observations
obtained from the
study of biological
pathways and deploy
them in a new
framework, to provide
specific information
for making decisions
about risk.
5
Health Disparities and
Global
Environmental
Health
NIEHS has been a leader in studying health risks associated with environmental toxicants
Research to
and other stressors borne by vulnerable populations where they live, work, and play.
understand
NIEHS has invested heavily in building capacity of affected communities to partner with
environmental
environmental health scientists in order to study environmental concerns. It has long been
contributors to
recognized that individuals and communities that are socioeconomically disadvantaged also
tend to suffer inequalities in both health and environmental burdens. It is also known that
global health and
characteristics such as age, gender, and occupation can be factors in vulnerability.
health disparities
Theme 4 incorporates aspects of all the other themes: fundamental research, exposure
research, translational science, training and education, and communications and engagement.
Under this theme, NIEHS endeavors to support environmental justice research, by defining the environmental factors and
their complex interactions that contribute to environmental health disparities, and by studying chemical and nonchemical
stressors at the community level. This research includes developing new approaches to community-based research,
fostering collaborations between community groups and research groups, establishing training programs for environmental
health disparities research, and capacity building within institutions well placed to undertake health disparities research.
For environmental health disparities research, it is necessary to incorporate social and behavioral aspects, as well as
implications of environmental exposures into the research.
Environmental exposures of widespread public health significance occur throughout the world — many disproportionately
affect not only the disadvantaged in our country but also the developing world. Populations around the world will continue
to be a focus of NIEHS research. Taking a global environmental health focus includes opportunities to perform research
to learn about risks from widespread exposures. For example, increasing changes in global climate are expected to result
in changes to weather, ecosystems, water supplies, and other aspects of our physical environment. These changes, and
the mitigation and adaptation efforts that accompany them, will have implications for emerging environmental exposures,
especially affecting vulnerable populations. Environmental exposures are also major contributors to the worldwide increase
in chronic, noncommunicable diseases and their effect on health and economic costs.
An additional component of this theme that intersects with Theme 3 is the development of new tools and approaches that
will help us understand the economic impacts of environmental health risks, decisions, and policies. The field of health
disparities research can benefit greatly from the contributions of cost-benefit analyses and comparative effectiveness
research. Developing quantitative approaches that can be linked to economic impact is an important capability that can be
used to inform decision-making in ways that will disproportionally benefit exposed communities.
As with all the themes, implementation of the goals under this theme will depend on wide-ranging and effective
partnerships and collaborations. This requirement points to the need for good relationships between community groups,
their leaders and representatives, and the invested researchers. Internationally, the collaborations extend also to foreign
scientists and governments.
6
Theme 5: Training and Education
Developing and
retaining a
sustainable
pipeline of
environmental
health
professionals
across a range
of related
disciplines
including
fundamental
science,
exposure science,
translation, policy,
and outreach,
through efforts in
education, training,
and career
development, and
raising the level
of environmental
health literacy
of the general
population and
all other NIEHS
stakeholders
NIEHS will facilitate development of a cadre of top-notch, innovative and dedicated
environmental health scientists and professionals. Within the scientific enterprise,
researchers who are open to transdisciplinary approaches need to be developed,
recruited, and trained from across a wide range of disciplines, in order to meet the
NIEHS mission of solving the increasingly complex problems in environmental health.
Examples include not only traditional basic biological, medical, and population sciences,
such as toxicology and epidemiology, but also translational sciences, data and
information sciences, veterinary medicine, chemistry, engineering, biostatistics, health
economics, bioethics, risk communication, behavioral sciences, and others.
In tandem with the development of the scientific cadre, NIEHS must also seek to
develop a base of professionals who can translate the scientific knowledge into policy,
education, communications, and outreach, to meet the needs of NIEHS stakeholders.
Efforts in both of these areas should include specific focus on increasing the involvement
of underrepresented groups in environmental health research, on the use of integrative
and collaborative approaches, and on effectively relating environmental health science
to actual public health problems that need solutions. NIEHS needs to emphasize the
real-world relevance of its scientific efforts, to make environmental health sciences an
exciting and enticing field of study and career.
Getting children excited about environmental health science at an early age helps
sustain pipeline of future researchers. Efforts in this area not only introduce new
researchers into the field, but also provide a framework for education that improves
overall environmental health literacy, with the capacity to affect understanding,
behavior, and health outcomes across the age spectrum. Thus, environmental health
literacy embedded in early education is a necessary condition both for the environmental
health scientist pipeline and for wider health promotion and disease prevention efforts.
Getting children excited about
environmental health science
at an early age, helps sustain
pipeline of future researchers.
7
Communications
and
Engagement
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During
1976-1980,
about88%
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U.
S.
children
1-
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had
lead
levels
~10
µg/dl
in
their
blood
.
1976-1980
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2000,
only
2.
2%
of
U.S.
children
had
this
-
lead
level
.
1988-1991
1991-1994
1999-2000*
Source
:
National
Health
and
Nutrition
Examination
Surveys
{NHANES)
for
children
1·5
years
old
.
*
Data
for
1999·2000
are
variable,
relative
standard
error
>
30%.
Advancing
translation and
dissemination
of scientific
knowledge on
the role of the
environment and
human health
and pursuing
appropriate and
effective means
of engagement
of the broad
range of Institute
stakeholders in
environmental
health research
and public health
promotion
A part of the congressionally mandated purpose of NIEHS is the dissemination of research
findings, knowledge, and information on environmental health science. Because the
prevention of illness and the improvement of public health are central to the mission
and vision of NIEHS, this mandate is interpreted broadly and covers a wide range of
communication activities.
In order to be successful in these activities, NIEHS must continue to develop, refine, and
implement an innovative and comprehensive communication and engagement strategy
that draws on the latest in best practices, standards, and technologies established by
professional communications practitioners and researchers.
Communication and engagement activities provide information that can be easily understood
and applied by the range of NIEHS stakeholders, including decision-makers at all levels,
from individuals to global organizations. A good communication strategy for NIEHS features
two-way engagement with our stakeholders and is deployed both internally and with external
partners to develop a broad constituency for environmental health sciences.
Prevenng Disease
Lead poisoning in American children has decreased by about 86% since the late 1970s.
Much of this success is due to research supported by NIEHS and others, which helped to
identify and reduce the health
effects of lead poisoning in
children and adults. NIEHS
and other agencies help to
stop preventable diseases,
by communicating the most
up-to-date information about
environmental risks to health
care providers and the public.
8
Crosscutting Theme: Knowledge Management
Environmental effects on health and disease are complex, and understanding these effects requires an integrated and
comprehensive approach to data management. The pace of data generation in environmental health sciences has surpassed
the existing infrastructure for information acquisition, management, analysis, visualization, and dissemination.The various
issues around information, data, and knowledge management comprise an overarching issue with implications applicable to all
the strategic planning themes.
There is a broad consensus in the scientific community that more informatics expertise and resources are required to support
environmental health sciences research. Emerging technologies allow for transformative analysis of genome structure and
sequence, transcriptome, epigenome, metabolome, proteome, exposome, phenome, etc., but currently the field of
environmental health sciences has relied on other disciplines to define the bioinformatic parameters necessary for data
integration. While environmental health sciences has made some progress within these constraints, it has become apparent
that dedicated strategic investments of resources
are necessary to support the information and
knowledge needs of the multiple disciplines within the
environmental health sciences. Strategies that facilitate
integration of such data, in the context of environmental
exposures, would permit greater synergy among
environmental health science researchers and improve
our basic understanding of environmentally associated
diseases. Across the environmental health sciences
community, there is a need for centralizing, accessing,
and analyzing diverse environmental health data through
public resources. A path forward could include leveraging
multiple sources of existing data, which are now
unconnected, and create better ways to connect and
access these data, to address pressing environmental
health questions into the future.
Crosscutting Theme: Collaborative and Integrative Approaches
An overarching theme identified during the NIEHS strategic planning process is
the importance of collaborative and integrative approaches to environmental
health sciences. Adverse effects leading to disease occur at multiple points
throughout complex systems, often from multiple exposures and across
various life stages. The research enterprise for environmental health
sciences needs to be positioned to exploit all relevant disciplines in a
coordinated, integrated fashion to solve these complex problems.
Environmental health scientists need to be enabled to work across a wide
array of fields, such as cell and molecular biology, structural biology,
biochemistry, genetics, pharmacology, toxicology, epidemiology, biostatistics,
behavioral sciences, engineering, and many others. Systems biology,
Coordinated activities in research, communication,
computational biology, and other promising new approaches are dependent
capacity building, and evaluation.
on interdisciplinary collaborations. In addition to interdisciplinary approaches to
fulfilling its science mission, NIEHS must also work to develop innovative collaborations
with sister agencies, communities, and other partners, to effectively translate this knowledge,
to inform prevention and interventions, as well as to guide stakeholder decision-making at all levels.
Evaluation
Communication
Capacity Building
Research
IMPACT:
• Local
• State
• Tribal
• Regional
• National
• Global
Coordination
9
NIEHS Strategic Goals
Goal 1
Identify and understand fundamental shared mechanisms or common biological pathways, e.g., inflammation, epigenetic
changes, oxidative stress, mutagenesis, etc., underlying a broad range of complex diseases, in order to enable the development
of applicable prevention and intervention strategies.
a. Investigate the effects of the environment on genome structure and function.
b. Investigate the effects of the environment on the epigenetic regulation of biological and pathological processes.
c. Understand the role of key biological mechanisms and their regulation in determining resistance and susceptibility to
environmental stressors.
d. Understand the normal processes of human development, maturation, and aging, and identify environmental factors
that contribute to altered function.
e. Develop a pipeline to integrate high-throughput screening, cell systems, and model organisms, to identify fundamental
mechanisms underlying responses to existing and emerging environmental toxicants, and to better predict their
relationship to disease.
Goal 2
Understand individual susceptibility across the life span to chronic, complex diseases resulting from environmental factors, in
basic and population-based studies, to facilitate prevention and decrease public health burden.
a. Using a life-span approach, identify critical windows of susceptibility to the effects of environmental exposures.
b. Deepen our understanding of dose-response relationships to environmental factors across the life span.
c. Study the factors that determine individual susceptibility to environmental stressors across the life span.
10
Goal 3
Transform exposure science by enabling consideration of the totality of human exposures and links to biological pathways,
and create a blueprint for incorporating exposure science into human health studies.
a. Advance characterization of environmental exposures through improved exposure assessment, at both the individual
and population levels.
b. Define and disseminate the concept of the exposome.
c. Create tools and technologies and the research capacity needed to characterize the exposome.
Goal 4
Understand how combined environmental exposures affect disease pathogenesis.
a. Assess the joint action of multiple environmental insults, including chemicals, nonchemical stressors, and nutritional
components, on toxicity and disease, and identify interactions resulting from combined exposures.
b. Study the role of the human microbiome and its influence on environmental health, and explore the role of the
microbiome in responses to environmental exposures.
c. Study the interactions of infectious agents with environmental exposures.
d. Understand how nonchemical stressors, including socioeconomic, behavioral factors, etc., interact with other
environmental exposures to impact human health outcomes, and identify preventive measures that could be taken.
1111
Goal 5
Identify and respond to emerging environmental threats to human health, on both a local and global scale.
a. Enlist the capacity of the environmental health science (EHS) research enterprise to elucidate information necessary for
timely and effective public health action.
b. Act proactively with other public health partners to provide appropriate responses to emerging environmental threats,
both natural and man-made.
c. Focus on research needs to help inform policy responses in public health situations in which lack of knowledge hampers
policymaking, e.g., health effects of exposures related to hydrofracking or climate change, or exposures to engineered
nanomaterials.
Goal 6
Establish an environmental health disparities research agenda to understand the disproportionate risks of disease, and to
define and support public health and prevention solutions in affected populations.
a. Conduct community-based participatory research that incorporates cultural competencies.
b. Include research and education on the ethical, legal, and social implications of EHS research, including human
participation issues, research integrity, reporting of results, and other issues.
c. Develop and recommend or implement interventions to reduce or eliminate environmental exposures that cause the
greatest burden of disease to affected populations.
12
Chemical Effects in Biological
Systems (CEBS)
The CEBS database houses data
of interest to environmental health
scientists. CEBS is a public resource
and has received depositions of
data from academic, industrial, and
governmental laboratories. CEBS is
designed to display data in the context
of biology and study design, and to
permit data integration across studies.
Goal 7
Use knowledge management techniques to create a collaborative environment for the EHS community, to encourage an
interdisciplinary approach to investigate, analyze, and disseminate findings.
a. Develop bioinformatics, biostatistics, and data integration tools to conduct interdisciplinary research for application to
environmental health science.
b. Develop and invest in publicly available resources and computational tools, for integrating and analyzing environmental
health data.
Goal 8
Enhance the teaching of EHS at all levels of education and training — kindergarten through professional — to increase
scientific literacy and generate awareness of the health consequences of environmental exposures.
a. Empower individuals at all levels of education with knowledge to make better health decisions.
b. Use leadership and partnerships to strengthen EHS education and literacy, using research on effective EHS education
strategies and creating mechanisms for educators to promote EHS education.
c. Develop critical training programs in EHS research tailored for multiple groups, e.g., students, postdocs, foreign
scientists, and science teachers.
d. Incorporate EHS into medical education and practice, e.g., nursing, M.D., etc., to increase awareness of environmental
medicine in health care practice.
NIEHS Scholars Connect Program (NSCP): Connecng Minority Scholars
with Environmental Health Science
NSCP is designed to provide an opportunity for highly motivated science, technology, engineering, and
math-focused undergraduate students from historically black colleges and universities, minority-serving
institutions (MSI), and other nearby academic institutions with minority student populations, to connect
with NIEHS and engage in many of its educational, informational, training, and career-oriented outlets.
For more information, visit http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/od/deputy/osed/scholars/index.cfm.
13
Goal 9
Inspire a diverse and well-trained cadre of scientists to move our transformative environmental health science forward, and
train the next generation of EHS leaders from a wider range of scientific disciplines and diverse backgrounds.
a. Foster cross-disciplinary training in areas that are necessary, but underrepresented, in EHS, e.g., informatics,
engineering, biobehavioral, etc.
b. Recruit trainees from other disciplines to diversify our science base.
c. Ensure effective opportunities across the entire career trajectory, for young investigators’ transition to independence,
and for retraining midcareer scientists and other EHS professionals.
d. Promote the integration of EHS into medical education to increase the number of physician or nurse researchers who
are trained in EHS.
e. Build environmental health research capacity in those countries around the world experiencing the greatest burden of
death, disease, and disability due to environmental factors.
f. Increase diversity within training programs for environmental health scientists.
Goal 10
Evaluate the economic impact of policies, practices, and behaviors that reduce exposure to environmental toxicants, through
prevention of disease and disabilities, and invest in research programs to test how prevention improves public health and
minimizes economic burden.
a. Develop an interdisciplinary research and training program in environmental health economics, to better understand
the economic costs and benefits of environmental exposures, related diseases, and interventions to prevent
exposures and diseases.
b. Measure economic benefits and comparative effectiveness of NIEHS investments, employing health economics as a
part of the NIEHS research agenda, and develop tools and databases to advance this research.
c. Assist policymakers with systematic review and state-of-the-science assessments to help them make clinical and
policy recommendations.
1414
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Goal 11
Promote bidirectional communication and collaboration between researchers and stakeholders, e.g., policy-makers, clinicians,
intervention and prevention practitioners, and the public, in order to advance research translation in the environmental
health sciences.
a. Promote NIEHS as a trusted and accessible source of EHS-based information and increase reach and effectiveness in
communication and outreach.
b. Identify and expand our relevant stakeholder communities and enhance engagement to understand their priorities,
concerns, and needs related to EHS.
c. Build and lead long-term federal and nonfederal partnerships with health education agencies and mission-related
stakeholder groups, to create a pipeline for the coordination of disseminating scientific results to the public and to hear
back from constituents.
d. Conduct research, as needed, on effective EHS communication strategies, including risk communication and public health.
e. Develop an integrated, searchable knowledge base on the impact of the environment on health.
EHP Goes Paperless
NIEHS proudly publishes Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP), the top peer-reviewed scientific
journal for environmental, occupational, and public health research.
As part of its long-standing commitment to sustainable publishing, EHP is going paperless!This move is
part of an overall strategy to increase the use of electronic communication technologies, such as tablet
and other mobile versions, which will enhance the journal’s reach and impact.
Check out the EHP podcast series at http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/static/podcasts.action and follow EHP
onTwitter at https://twitter.com/ehponline.
15
Process for Development of NIEHS Strategic Plan
The NIEHS strategic
The Visionary Ideas website was open from March 1 through April 30, 2011.
We received 231 ideas and 491 comments, including some very exciting, out-of-the-box
planning process
suggestions made by 2,938 respondents. The ideas received more than 10,000 votes,
had three phases:
which helped us understand our stakeholders’ enthusiasm and interest for each one.
stakeholder input,
In Phase I, we also convened a Stakeholder Community Workshop in July 2011.
analysis of strategic
The workshop brought together a diverse group of environmental health professionals
themes, and
to discuss and further identify forward-looking ideas for consideration. Almost 170
development of
peer-nominated external stakeholders and NIEHS staff participated in the exercise.
The attendees represented all the major stakeholder groups and were selected from a
strategic goals.
group of almost 600 nominations, which were considered by a committee drawn from
all divisions of NIEHS. The workshop used Open Space Technology — a nontraditional
format that succeeded in creating an exciting and thought-provoking atmosphere.
The workshop resulted in 97 reports on key ideas that participants identified, discussed, and compiled. These were combined
into a single report and posted on the Strategic Plan website.
All of this input, including the visionary ideas and Stakeholder Community Workshop reports and public comments, was then
reviewed, synthesized, and organized into eight major thematic areas. Some crosscutting ideas were placed under more than
one thematic area.
In Phase II, the collected thematic areas were compiled, along with the reports and visionary ideas that contributed to them.
This was the starting point for discussions by a smaller group of external advisors and NIEHS staff that met in October 2011
at the Strategic Planning Workshop. This group reviewed the overall input and drafted new mission and vision statements.
During the workshop, the participants identified and discussed strategic themes that directly supported the mission and
vision. It was emphasized that the themes must be integrated, interconnected, and crosscutting, in order for NIEHS to achieve
our mission. The mission, vision, and strategic themes were posted on the NIEHS website for comment in January 2012.
Strategic goal development came next in Phase III. The NIEHS leadership team spearheaded the process of creating the goals
from the previous inputs, mission, vision, and strategic themes. Each NIEHS division conducted retreats to conceive and
propose cross-institutional goals. The NIEHS leadership team reviewed all the suggested goals, prioritized them, and developed
a set of 11 strategic goals for NIEHS.
Once the draft strategic goals had been collected and refined, they were posted on the NIEHS website for review and public
comment during the month of February 2012, along with updated drafts of the mission, vision, and strategic themes.
The themes and goals were also presented at the February National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council meeting.
NIEHS received a number of comments from interested individuals and organizations at the meeting. The NIEHS leadership
carefully considered each of these comments and incorporated appropriate changes into the documents. The final draft
strategic plan, including the mission, vision, themes, and goals, was posted online for final public comment and review in
April 2012. The new NIEHS 2012—2017 Strategic Plan,: Advancing Science, Improving Health: A Plan for Environmental
Health Research, was finalized and adopted in August 2012.
16
NIEHS Strategic Plan Participants
Karen Adelman, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Janice Allen, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Bruce Androphy, J.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Trevor Archer, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
David Armstrong, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
David Arond, M.D., M.P.H.
Tufts University School of Medicine
Joellen M. Austin, M.P.A., M.S.M
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
John M. Balbus, M.D., M.P.H.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
David Balshaw, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Claire Barnett, M.B.A.
Healthy Schools Network
Cynthia Bearer, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Thomas Begley, Ph.D.
State University of New York–Albany
Bradley Bernstein, Ph.D.
Harvard Medical School
Gary Bird, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Abee Boyles, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Christopher Bradfield, Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Patrick Breysse, Ph.D., M.H.S.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Alma Britton
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Julia Brody, Ph.D.
Silent Spring Institute
Doug Brugge, Ph.D., M.S.
Tufts University School of Medicine
John Bucher, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Wayne Cascio, M.D.
Environmental Protection Agency
Trisha Castranio
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
William Chameides, Ph.D.
Duke University
Marie-Francoise Chesselet, M.D., Ph.D.
University of California – Los Angeles
John Cidlowski, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Luz Claudio, Ph.D.
Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
Terrence J. Collins, Ph.D.
Carnegie Mellon University
Gwen Collman, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Lisa Conti, DVM, M.P.H.
Florida Department of Health
William Copeland, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Jose Cordero, M.D., M.P.H.
University of Puerto Rico
Deborah Cory-Slechta, Ph.D.
Univ. of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry
Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D.
Autism Speaks
Allen Dearry, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
B
arry Dellinger, Ph.D.
Louisiana State University
Richard Denison, Ph.D.
Environmental Defense
Michael DeVito, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Dana Dolinoy, Ph.D.
University of Michigan
Sidney Draggan, Ph.D.
National Council for Science and the Environment
Christie Drew, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Robert Dyer, Ph.D.
Environmental Protection Agency
John Essigmann, Ph.D.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lisa Archer Edwards, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
David Fargo, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Ken Fasman, Ph.D.
Adelson Medical Research Foundation
Michael Fessler, M.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Richard Finnell, Ph.D.
The University of Texas at Austin
Christine Flowers
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Carol Folt, Ph.D.
Dartmouth College
Paul Foster, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
John Froines, Ph.D.
University of California-Los Angeles
Howard Frumkin, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H.
University of Washington
17
Michael Gallo, Ph.D.
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
Stavros Garantziotis, M.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Thomas Gasiewicz, Ph.D.
University of Rochester
Dori Germolec, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Frank Gilliland, M.D.
University of Southern California
Julia Gohlke, Ph.D.
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Lynn Goldman, M.D., M.P.H.
George Washington University
Michael Gould, Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Gina Goulding
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Nadine Gracia, M.D., M.S.C.E.
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, HHS
Joe Graedon, M.S.
Community Member
Kathleen Gray, M.S.P.H.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
John Groopman, Ph.D.
The Johns Hopkins University
Traci Hall, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Philip Hanawalt, Ph.D.
Stanford University
Erin Haynes, Dr.P.H.
University of Cincinnati
Bernard Hennig, Ph.D., R.D.
University of Kentucky
Heather F. Henry, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Shuk-mei Ho, Ph.D.
University of Cincinnati
John Hollingsworth, M.D.
Duke University
Stephanie Holmgren, M.S.L.S., M.B.A.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Michael Holsapple, Ph.D.
International Life Sciences Institute
Darryl Hood, Ph.D.
Meharry Medical College
Paul Howard, Ph.D.
Food and Drug Administration
Andrea Hricko, M.P.H.
University of Southern California
Elaine Hubal, Ph.D.
Environmental Protection Agency
Claude Hughes, M.D., Ph.D.
Quintiles
Joseph M. (Chip) Hughes
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
William Jirles, M.P.H.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Laurie Johnson
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Paul Jung, M.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Robert Kavlock, Ph.D.
Environmental Protection Agency
Jack Keene, Ph.D.
Duke University
Christopher Kemp, Ph.D.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
James Kiley, Ph.D.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Steve Kleeberger, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Amy Kostant, Ph.D.
Science Communication Network
Richard Kwok, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Virginia T. Ladd
American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association
Michele LaMerrill, Ph.D.
Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
Bruce Lanphear, M.D., M.P.H.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Cindy Lawler, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
B. Paige Lawrence, Ph.D.
University of Rochester
Mary Lee, M.D.
University of Massachusetts
George Leikauf, Ph.D.
University of Pittsburgh
Grace LeMasters, Ph.D., M.S.N
University of Cincinnati
Edward Levin, Ph.D.
Duke University
Stephanie London, M.D., Dr.P.H.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Christopher Long, M.P.A.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
George Lucier, Ph.D.
Community Member
Daniel Madrigal, M.P.H.
Center for Environmental Research & Children’s Health
Cheryl Marks, Ph.D.
National Cancer Institute
J. Patrick Mastin, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Carolyn Mattingly, Ph.D.
Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory
Kimberly McAllister, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Rob S. McConnell, M.D.
University of Southern California
Aubrey Miller, M.D., M.P.H.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
David Miller, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Frederick W. Miller, M.D., Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Richard Miller, Ph.D.
GlaxoSmithKline
Marie Lyn Miranda, Ph.D.
Duke University
Frank Mirer, Ph.D., CIH
Hunter College
Nuala Moore
American Thoracic Society
John S. Morawetz
International Chemical Workers Union
Richard Mural, Ph.D.
Windber Research Institute
Craig Newschaffer, Ph.D.
Drexel University
Sheila Newton, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Heather Nicholas, M.S.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Martha Nolan, J.D.
Society for Women’s Health Research
Karen Peabody O’Brien, Ph.D.
Advancing Green Chemistry
Liam O’Fallon, M.A.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Emily Page
Creative Consultancy
Heather Patisaul, Ph.D.
North Carolina State University
Richard Paules, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
David Peden, M.D., M.S.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Sally Perreault Darney, Ph.D.
Environmental Protection Agency
Jerry Phelps
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Michael Pino, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Sanofi Aventis
Antonio Planchart, Ph.D.
Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory
Jonathan Pollock, Ph.D.
National Institute of Drug Abuse
James Putney Jr., Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
18
Kenneth Ramos, Ph.D.
University of Louisville
Ericka Reid, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Robert W. Rickard, Ph.D., D.A.B.T.
DuPont
Jeanne Rizzo, R.N.
Breast Cancer Fund
Joshua Rosenthal, Ph.D.
Fogarty International Center
Andrew Rowan, Ph.D.
The Humane Society
Karin Russ, R.N.
Collaborative on Health and Environment
Leona Samson, Ph.D.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dale Sandler, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Jennifer Sass, Ph.D.
Natural Resources Defense Council
William Schrader, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Jane Schroeder, D.V.M., M.P.H., Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Victoria Seewaldt, M.D.
Duke University
Banalata Sen, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Cosette Serabjit-Singh, Ph.D.
Community Member
Peggy M. Shepard
WEACT for Environmental Justice
Ellen Silbergeld, Ph.D.
The Johns Hopkins University
Robert Sills, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Thomas H. Sinks, Ph.D.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
William Slikker, Ph.D.
Food and Drug Administration
Martyn Smith, Ph.D.
University of California at Berkeley
William Stokes, D.V.M.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Tonya Stonham
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Carol Stroebel
Children’s Environmental Health Network
William Suk, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
James Swenberg, D.V.M., Ph.D.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
JackTaylor, M.D., Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
PalmerTaylor, M.D.
University of California-San Diego
KristinaThayer, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
KimberlyThigpenTart, J.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
WendyThomas, M.S.
American Meteorological Society
ClaudiaThompson, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
RayTice, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
FrederickTyson, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
David Umbach, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
John Vandenberg, Ph.D.
Environmental Protection Agency
Thomas Vogt, Ph.D.
Merck
Cheryl Walker, Ph.D.
University of Texas
Nigel Walker, Ph.D., D.A.B.T.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Clarice Weinberg, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Philip Wexler
National Library of Medicine
Birgitt Williams
Dalar International Consultancy
Scott Williams, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Ward Williams
Dalar International Consultancy
Sacoby Wilson, Ph.D.
University of South Carolina
Deborah Winn, Ph.D.
National Cancer Institute
Mary Wolfe, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Tracey Woodruff, Ph.D., M.P.H.
University of California – San Francisco
Leroy Worth, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Richard Woychik, Ph.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Beverly Wright, Ph.D.
Dillard University
Robert Wright, M.D., M.P.H.
Harvard University
ElizabethYeampierre, JD
United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park
(Uprose)
Steven Zeisel, M.D.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Darryl Zeldin, M.D.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Harold Zenick, Ph.D.
Environmental Protection Agency
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Advancing Science, Improving Health:
A Plan for Environmental Health Research
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
S T R A T E G I C P L A N
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National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services