Translational Research Training Program in Environmental Health Sciences

This application is for the continuation of a T32 Institutional Training Grant in Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) entitled: “Translational Research Training Program in EHS” (T32-ES019851) at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). This training grant is the only dedicated mechanism to support formalized EHS research training at the pre- and post-doctoral level at Penn and meets a significant need based on trainee interest in the environment and its health impact and biomedical work force need. The mission of the T32 Training Program is to train the next generation of environmental health scientists to identify the mechanisms by which environmental exposures cause disease and to translate these findings into effective prevention and treatment and improvements in public health. The research training reflects the translational research themes of Penn’s P30 Environmental Health Sciences Core Center, the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET). These themes include Air Pollution & Lung Health, Environmental Exposures & Cancer, Windows-of-Susceptibility, and Environmental Neuroscience. These themes are underpinned by exposure assessment, adverse outcomes, and translation to human subjects, communities, and policy. Training is provided through coursework from the Certificate Program in Environmental Health Sciences, which includes a mandatory Community Environmental Health Rotation, and by conducting a full-time translational research project co-mentored, where possible, by a basic scientist and clinician-scientist to generate new knowledge in EHS. The 48 distinguished Training Grant (TG) faculty come from Penn and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 21 are clinician-scientists. The TG supports common experiences, including a research club, a dedicated seminar series, an annual symposium dedicated to a translational research theme, and optional externships at the US EPA, the Silent Spring Institute, the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials, and a Science Policy Institute, so that trainees are exposed to alternative career options. The T32 award currently supports three predoctoral fellows to conduct dissertation research on an EHS topic and four postdoctoral fellows to perform mentored EHS research. Predoctoral trainees are supported for a total of three years (2nd year completion of the Certificate Program in EHS and two years dissertation research) and postdoctoral trainees are supported for two to three years. Trainees are prepared for a suite of careers in the employment sector e.g., academia (in EHS, Pharmacology and Toxicology), government agencies (e.g. US-EPA, CDC, FDA, NTP, NIEHS); and industry (drug, food, cosmetic and nanotechnology). In the last two cycles, the Training Grant has supported 29 trainees, who have published 108 papers, and alumni have continued with scientific careers in academia and industry.