New institutional awards of up to $10,000,000 to stimulate the development of strong research, education, and public communications connections between fields that aim to understand and mitigate the impact of climate change on human health. In general, this award will support institutions or consortia that are already moving toward establishing themselves as centers of excellence for understanding climate change’s impact on human health and for leadership in climate education OR public communication around climate and health. Applications from institutions just starting to integrate Climate + Health into their planning are expected to be uncompetitive. Up to three awards will be made over two rounds of competition.

Providing support for U.S. and Canadian research and educational Institutions or consortia of research and educational institutions.

PROGRAM BACKGROUND

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund announces the Climate + Health Excellence (CHEX) Centers award. This is a new institutional research and training opportunity that will help institutions bridge the gaps between fields that will have important roles to play in understanding the impacts of climate change on human health and diminishing their effects. This grant will support new discovery toward defining the health impacts of climate change, developing potential interventions, translating discovery science into practical application, and outward-facing work that can help public understanding of Climate + Health or strengthen connections between research and communities whose health has been harmed by climate change. Our goal is to help these Centers of Excellence achieve their strategic goals by supporting activities that help build stable collaborations between people, departments, and institutions. Building interdisciplinary connections between scholars, between approaches, and between researchers and those outside academe form the bulk of the budget.

BASIC, APPLIED, AND TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH

This program is meant to support institutions or consortia that have already begun to work toward taking on the problem of climate’s impact on health. Consortia might include neighboring institutions with already established collaborations, but of more relevance to this RFP are consortia of institutions united by common interests, for example in the health of residents of the Appalachian Mountains or the Great Lakes region, an urban focus, or a focus on rural life, etc. Whether collaborators are at a single institution or a consortium, we want to see lasting connections developed between those working with basic and applied approaches. We anticipate that support from CHEX will accelerate and enhance the cultivation of new common ground for high-impact basic research, invention, and implementation that can practically change the impacts of climate change on human health.

AN OUTWARD FOCUS

Conveying to the public ideas about how climate change and human health are linked is important for the flow of insights from discovery research into health interventions. For this reason, successful applications will bring general (non-postgraduate) education or public communication into their vision of shared common ground. Either education or communication should be a substantial element of the proposal. Proposals that sacrifice depth to include elements of both may be weakened by the effort: it is better to go deep into one area than to lightly “tag both bases.”

POST-GRADUATE TRAINING

Institutions or Consortia supported by these awards will develop new lines of research, training, and graduate education that will both energize faculty collaboration and expand interdisciplinary research opportunities for trainees. What graduate departments learn from exploring post-graduate students’ interests in the intersection of climate change and health science may be invaluable to developing educational resources and career guidance for K12 and college students. The training grant element will not be more than 20% of a funded center’s budget.