The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research Program (SRP) funds university-based, solution-oriented research to understand how hazardous substances contribute to disease and how to prevent exposures to these hazardous substances. A unique aspect of the SRP is that, beyond the biomedical, environmental sciences, and engineering research projects, SRP-funded centers are required to include community engagement to build partnerships with affected communities and research translation to communicate and facilitate the use of research findings. The SRP views both as effective ways to inform and advance science for protection of public health. The purpose of community engagement within the centers is to ensure bidirectional communication between the researchers and the community, identify best practices and activities in community engagement for prevention and intervention activities, enhance knowledge, and support the needs of the communities impacted by hazardous waste sites. The SRP views research translation as communicating and facilitating the use of research findings emanating from the center in a manner most appropriate for their application and for the advancement of a center’s research objectives. The SRP has a strong history of seeking opportunities to work with communities and stakeholders, by translating and sharing research findings in an impactful and informative manner with long-lasting benefits to improve public health.

This article summarises a session from the recent Pacific Basin Consortium for Environment and Health Focus meeting on Environmental Impacts on Infectious Disease. To provide an overview of the literature underpinning the presentations from this session. References used in developing the presentations were obtained from the presenters. Additional references were obtained from PubMed using key words from the presentations.

Children are particularly vulnerable to environmental hazards because they receive higher doses of pollutants in any given environment and often do not have equitable access to social protection mechanisms such as environmental and health care services. The World Health Organization established a global network of collaborating centres that address children's environmental health (CEH). The network developed a focus on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and is broadening its reach by conducting regional workshops for CEH.Objective: This paper reports on the outcomes of a workshop held in conjunction with the 17th International Conference (November 2017) of the Pacific Basin Consortium for Environment and Health, focused on the state of CEH in South and Southeast Asia as presented by seven countries from the region (India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka).Workshop outcomes: Country reports presented at the meeting show a high degree of similarity with respect to the issues threatening the health of children. The most common problems are outdoor and household air pollution in addition to exposure to heavy metals, industrial chemicals, and pesticides. Many children still do not have adequate access to clean water and improved sanitation while infectious diseases remain a problem, especially for children living in poverty. Child labour is widely prevalent, generally without adequate training or personal protective equipment. The children now face the dual burden of undernutrition and stunting on the one hand and overnutrition and obesity on the other.Conclusion: It is evident that some countries in these regions are doing better than others in varying areas of CEH. By establishing and participating in regional networks, countries can learn from each other and harmonise their efforts to protect CEH so that all can benefit from closer interactions.

Approximately 2000 official and potential Superfund sites are located within 25 miles of the East or Gulf coasts, many of which will be at risk of flooding as sea levels rise. More than 60 million people across the United States live within 3 miles of a Superfund site. Disentangling multifaceted environmental health problems compounded by climate change requires a multidisciplinary systems approach to inform better strategies to prevent or reduce exposures and protect human health. The purpose of this minireview is to present the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research Program (SRP) as a useful model of how this systems approach can help overcome the challenges of climate change while providing flexibility to pivot to additional needs as they arise. It also highlights broad-ranging SRP-funded research and tools that can be used to promote health and resilience to climate change in diverse contexts.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Research Program (SRP) funds university-based, multidisciplinary research on human health and environmental science and engineering with the central goals to understand how hazardous substances contribute to disease and how to prevent exposures to these environmental chemicals. This multi-disciplinary approach allows early career scientists (e.g. graduate students and postdoctoral researchers) to gain experience in problem-based, solution-oriented research and to conduct research in a highly collaborative environment. Training the next generation of environmental health scientists has been an important part of the SRP since its inception. In addition to basic research, the SRP has grown to include support of broader training experiences such as those in research translation and community engagement activities that provide opportunities to give new scientists many of the skills they will need to be successful in their field of research. Looking to the future, the SRP will continue to evolve its training component by tracking and analyzing outcomes from its trainees by using tools such as the NIEHS CareerTrac database system, by increasing opportunities for trainees interested in research that goes beyond US boundaries, and in the areas of bioinformatics and data integration. These opportunities will give them the skills needed to be competitive and successful no matter which employment sector they choose to enter after they have completed their training experience.

Background: Millions of people in the United States live near Superfund sites and may be exposed to hazardous chemicals from those sites. However, there is limited research on chemicals present at sites and the demographics of nearby communities. We aimed to identify subgroups of Superfund sites with similar contaminant profiles and evaluate whether sociodemographic characteristics vary by type of site. Methods: We used US Environmental Protection Agency Superfund data to identify sites active in the year 2000. Census tract centroids located within 3 miles of every Superfund site were identified and a weighted average of census tract-level sociodemographics using the 2000 US Census was calculated. Superfund sites with similar contaminant profiles were identified using latent class analysis. We compared the median sociodemographic characteristics, overall and by contaminant latent class, with those of the overall 2000 US Census. Results: We identified seven latent classes based on 12 contaminant categories from 1332 Superfund sites active in 2000. Overall, there were few differences in sociodemographics observed by the presence of any Superfund site compared with the overall US Census. After stratifying by contaminant profile, we observed evidence of disparities for two classes of sites, defined by (1) high diversity of chemical exposure and lumber industry and (2) batteries and metals, which were more likely to have higher hazard scores and to be near communities with higher proportions of non-White individuals, lower socioeconomic status, and higher social vulnerability. Conclusion: Disadvantaged communities, with higher social vulnerability, were more likely to be near certain Superfund sites with higher hazard scores.