Community Engagement Cores | National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
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Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers
Program Description
The Environmental Health Sciences Core Center Program includes Community Engagement Cores (CECs) to foster community-university partnerships. Each CEC builds and sustains a dialog between the center and its defined audience. CECs communicate environmental health research findings and concepts to community partners and convey the voice of these communities to researchers within the center. In so doing, CECs increase awareness of environmental health and help researchers understand which environmental health issues are important to their identified audiences.
CEC Audiences
Community
Educators
Policy-makers
Public Health and/or Health Care Professionals
CECs are at the forefront of developing communication approaches between researchers and community groups, policy makers, and health-care professionals. For example, CECs create interactive websites, educational videos, and public service announcements, along with a variety of print materials. With the goal of conducting outreach and research translation in an innovative and culturally-appropriate way, CECs have developed community theater productions, organized environmental health booths at local community markets, and modeled healthy homes. CECs have also developed and implemented innovative curricular materials that are used in classrooms across the United States.
Many examples of CEC-developed materials are available on the PEPH Resources webpage and the
NIEHS Health and Education webpage
CECs from across the country have coordinated efforts around issues, audiences, and events such as:
Disaster response to hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Ike that affected much of the Gulf Coast region.
Community concerns about hydraulic fracturing.
Tribal environmental health.
Translating environmental health research for healthcare professionals.
For more information about individual CECs and their activities, see the
Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers Grantees Table
Program Lead
Liam R. O'Fallon, M.A.
Health Specialist
Tel 984-287-3298
[email protected]
Related Links
Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers
Health & Education
Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH)
PEPH Resources
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Last Reviewed: January 05, 2026