FULL DESCRIPTION AND APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

The Center for Children’s Health Assessment, Research Translation, and Combating Environmental Racism (CHARTER) (1P2CES033430-01) is pleased to announce the 2024 Pilot Program in Children’s Environmental Health Research Translation. CHARTER aims to 1) advance children’s environmental health (CEH) through effectively communicating basic research findings that impact practice, policy, and/or future research; and 2) evaluate and improve strategies originating from CEH research to improve health outcomes and environmental health equity. Translational science considers various methods, barriers and facilitators, context, and issues encountered during the process while reflecting on the efficacy, effectiveness, and overall impact on health. It is iterative; often utilizing a bidirectional approach with research observations informing clinical interventions or products, and clinical testing of the intervention or product informing the best ways to apply them in practice.

Pilot projects must focus on the role of the environment in children’s health. These awards are open to all investigators at Emory, UGA, and Spelman who are eligible to serve as Principal Investigators on NIH grant applications (Instructor and above, tenure-, research- or clinical-track) and graduate students/postdocs with a faculty mentor. The pilot grants are designed to encourage researchers, especially early career scholars, to consider translational issues as an integral element of the research process and emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary team science. Projects with translational relevance (clinical or population-based), applications from early-career investigators, and collaborative and interdisciplinary projects are particularly encouraged to meet the Center focus. Additionally, CHARTER encourages applications for community-based participatory research (CBPR) projects and projects which foster partnerships with community organizations.  

Applications that are not focused on the role of the environment in human health and disease will not be reviewed. Applications deemed ready for R01 applications will not receive funding. Also, no PI may submit more than one application. 

Translational Interdisciplinary Planning and Seed Pilot Grant Application Guidelines:

TRANSLATIONAL INTERDISCIPLINARY PLANNING (TIP)

These $5,000 awards are designed to encourage the planning stage of interdisciplinary teams’ translational projects by funding travel, meetings, workshops, retreats, and other team-building events. Engagement with community representatives or community partners will be a critical element of the TIP grant.

• This application is open to faculty, post-docs, and graduate students.
• Early-stage teams will be eligible if they have come together recently to begin an interdisciplinary project with strong potential for innovative and impactful advances in translational sciences, within the CEH context.
• CHARTER investigators are available to facilitate connections between faculty from different disciplines. For example, a faculty member/graduate student with expertise in communications can request assistance identifying an individual with complementary expertise in environmental health in order to develop a transdisciplinary team necessary to apply for the TIP grant.  
• Each research team must have representation from two or more disciplines, with at least one expert in communication or related social science fields (e.g., psychology, sociology) and one expert in environmental health.  
• Teams that include junior or early-stage researchers, new investigators, and community partners (i.e., organizations with direct reach into underserved communities) will be prioritized.
• Funding: Each planning grant will be capped at $5,000. These funds may be used for personnel costs, travel, meetings, workshops, memberships to academic and professional associations, refreshments, retreats, communication devices, software, preliminary data, and other expenses to assist in team building and team interactions.

TRANSLATIONAL INTERDISCIPLINARY SEED (TIS)

These up to $20,000 awards will fund seed projects from established interdisciplinary teams who have a history of working together and are beyond the team-building/planning phases. This grant will support translation- focused projects that already have data but need to develop and test a communication tool or strategy to deliver findings to target communities.

• This application is open to faculty or postdocs/graduate students with a faculty mentor. 
• The proposed project must clearly describe how the team plans to translate CEH findings into an actionable strategy and a dissemination or future funding plan.  
• Teams should be able to demonstrate a history of working together.  
• Engagement with community representatives or community partners is considered a critical element.  
• Expectation of the award is the development and testing of communication products and/or pilot data for larger dissemination grants.
• Funding: Each seed grant will be capped at $20,000, which can be used for any research-related expenditures, such as equipment, supplies, personnel, participant remuneration, and travel.

Examples of possible outputs from this work include new messages, communication tools, methods/approaches, risk management strategies, public health interventions and practices, curriculums and educational activities, clinical guidelines, policies, and other products that translate CEH findings to applied products and impacts.

Example projects could include the following:

• Development of environmental exposure report back protocols or materials for study participants
• Development of a virtual reality experience to communicate complex environmental health concepts  
• Comparison of the effectiveness of different communication strategies to communicate risks of environmental exposures  
• Development and testing of curriculum materials to increase the environmental health literacy of healthcare providers.  
• Citizen science projects to identify and communicate local environmental health risks
• Testing innovative ways to mobilize youth to identify and communicate environmental health risks to local governments.  
• Working with early learning centers to increase environmental health literacy through novel communication approaches.

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ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES FOR TIP AND TIS CHARTER PILOT APPLICATIONS

• Applications must focus on the role of the environment in children’s health and disease.
• Priority will be given to: Early stage and junior investigators, and those seeking to expand their research programs into the field of children’s environmental health. The aim of the program is to allow investigators to gather pilot and/or feasibility data to support applications for independent R-level research funding from NIEHS or EPA.

ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES FOR CHARTER PILOT APPLICATIONS INVOLVING COMMUNITY PARTNERS

• CHARTER places a particular focus on the community, and through this, encourages applications for community-engaged research projects designed to address the potential health risks of environmental exposures of concern to a local community.
• Community members/partners are expected to participate meaningfully in the development of the research questions and research design, as well as study implementation (e.g., data collection), with resources shared (e.g., compensating partner’s time).
• The research team and community partner should plan to disseminate study results directly to the community.

• TIS applicants must hold a faculty position and be eligible to be a PI on an NIH R01 grant (or be a graduate student/postdoc with a faculty mentor).
• 2-page Google Form application link here
• Budget Details: Funds may be used for faculty salary support if requested in the application or with approval of the CHARTER director, up to a maximum of 5% effort. Salary support will not be granted for TIP grants.  
• Indirect costs should not be included in the budget. 
• All federal and university rules and regulations regarding the administration of grants apply to these funds. Costs subject to CAS approval, such as computers, general purpose equipment, office supplies, etc., may not be budgeted. Any travel must follow University travel policies and procedures.
  
  Requests for equipment or for a portion of PI salary greater than 5% must be justified in the budget.
• Due by November 20, 2023 at 5:00PM. Decisions made by the week of November 30, 2023. Funding cycle ends December 2024.

• Awardees must agree to participate in CHARTER activities (Seminars, Data Clubs, Workshops, Advisory Board Meetings) and provide a brief written report at the end of the funding period.
• Any resultant publications must cite funding from CHARTER 1P2CES033430-01 and copies of the publications should be provided to the CHARTER center administrator.
• A midpoint project report is due June 1, 2024 and a final project update by November 31, 2024

Please include the following citation in any publications resulting from direct or indirect CHARTER support: “Supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers 1P2CES033430-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.”