UC’s Center forEnvironmental Genetics awarded $7.8 million grant

A major federal grant will allow the University of Cincinnati to push forward its research into the links between genetics and exposure to environmental contaminants. The university received a $7.8 million grant to continue operating its Center for Environmental Genetics (CEG). The center is one of only 16 environmental centers funded by the federal government and is currently in its

16th year of operation. CEG encourages research collaboration between basic and applied scientists, epidemiologists and clinicians seeking to understand the complex relationships between genetic predisposition to disease and environmental contaminants.
 
The funding renewal “will put special emphasis on new opportunities and emerging technologies to integrate research that follows diseases through a person’s lifespan,” says Dr. Bruce Lanphear, a professor of environmental health and pediatrics. The Center also annually awards about $200,000 in pilot research grants to support initiatives from established environmental health researchers, attract new investigators to the field and enable collaborative research that focuses on population- or patient-based studies. “The traditional funding system doesn’t always encourage creativity. Pilot grants allow us to support promising ideas that may have never qualified for funding from traditional sources,” says Shuk-mei Ho, center director.

Writer: David Holthaus
Source: Amanda Harper, University of Cincinnati