Hubs of Interdisciplinary Research and Training in Global Environmental and Occupational Health (GEOHealth)

Robust international research collaborations are critical for advancing the environmental and occupational health science that informs the health, safety, and well-being of Americans. Environmental health problems cross national boundaries and research in international settings benefits all people who suffer from the same or related environmental health problems. The Fogarty International Center (FIC) intends to continue support of environmental and occupational health research and research training through the Global Environmental and Occupational Health (GEOHealth) program. GEOHealth awards will catalyze and strengthen collaborative environmental and occupational health research and complementary research training that leverages the unique scientific contexts of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) or that augments existing U.S. research resources. GEOHealth awards will 1) include collaboration between U.S. and LMIC scientists, 2) include closely aligned components for research and research training, 3) address environmental and chemical exposures, including possible interacting exposures and contextual factors, 4) address the impacts of these environmental and occupational exposures on health status or disease areas, and 5) inform detection, prevention and intervention approaches. The environmental and occupational health focus of each program must have potential benefit to LMIC health priorities as well as to the health needs of U.S. populations and must be relevant to the mission of at least one of the participating NIH Institutes, Centers, or Offices. Applications are expected to include activities that facilitate the widespread sharing of data, methods, and resources to accelerate research and to provide opportunities for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career investigators to participate in interdisciplinary environmental and occupational health research. Ultimately, GEOHealth projects are expected to advance research on the prevention and control of diseases and disabilities related to environmental and occupational exposures, strengthen international collaborative research that drives scientific advancement, and to inform evidence-based prevention and intervention approaches to protect health and strengthen resilience in the U.S. and globally.

The major elements in evaluating proposals include assessment of: (1) the scientific merit and general significance of the proposed study or research training program and its objectives; (2) the technical adequacy of the experimental design and approach; (3) the competency of the proposed investigator or group to successfully pursue the project; (4) the adequacy of the available proposed facilities and resources; (5) the necessity of the budget components requested in relation to the proposed project; and (6) the relevance and importance to the announced program objectives. All pertinent evaluation criteria are provided in the RFAs and PAs.