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Global Environmental Health

The NIEHS vision, presented in the Strategic Plan for 2012-2017, is to provide “global leadership for innovative research that improves public health by preventing disease and disability.” The NIEHS identifies Global Environmental Health (GEH) as a part of its strategic themes, recognizing that because environmental health problems cross national boundaries, conducting studies around the world benefits not just those in areas being studied, but all people who suffer from the same or related environmental health problems.. The inclusion of GEH continues a tradition of NIEHS global leadership and collaboration on solving the most pressing environmental health problems and improving the lives of the most vulnerable populations, both in the United States and around the world.

Global Environmental Health may be defined as:

research, education, training, and research translation directed at health problems that are related to environmental exposures and transcend national boundaries, with a goal of improving health for all people by reducing the environmental exposures that lead to avoidable disease, disabilities and deaths.

Goals

The Global Environmental Health Program assists the NIEHS in achieving its goals in three areas:

Global Environmental Health Research:  Public health improvements must be based on solid scientific understanding of population exposures and their effects.  NIEHS, through its global research on health effects and exposure assessment, increases scientific knowledge and understanding of both adverse and beneficial health effects from environmental conditions, with special emphasis on effects on populations in low- and middle-income countries.

Global Environmental Health Translation:  Advances in scientific knowledge must be translated into information that leaders, decision makers, and individuals can understand and use to inform the design and implementation of health protection and promotion actions.  NIEHS, through its research translation and outreach activities, aims to improve understanding of global environmental health issues in key target audiences.

Global Environmental Health Scientific Capacity:  NIEHS continues a decades-long commitment to improving the ability of countries around the world to study and solve their specific environmental health problems. We do this by supporting the training of international scientists, both on our campus and around the world; partnering with institutions in other countries to share expertise and maximize resources; and working to improve the scientific knowledge base in other countries by disseminating scientific information on environmental health where the burden of environmental disease is greatest.

Special Topics

NIEHS supports research, research translation, and capacity building in three special topics relevant to Global Environmental Health. For more information, click the links below:

• Cookstoves & Indoor Air
• Climate Change & Human Health
• Global Environmental Health & Sustainable Development

Newsletter

The Global Environmental Health Program publishes a bi-monthly newsletter of research, training, and program highlights; funding opportunities, events and other related resources. To view the current issue or subscribe to the newsletter, click the link below:

NIEHS Global Environmental Health newsletter

Partnerships

NIEHS has a long history of collaboration and partnerships with international organizations and researchers around the world. For more information on current partnerships, see the GEH Partnerships page.

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