United States: Virtual Consortium for Translational/Transdisciplinary Environmental Research

Deadline: 1-Feb-24

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced the Virtual Consortium for Translational/Transdisciplinary Environmental Research (ViCTER) program to foster and promote early-stage transdisciplinary collaborations and/or translational research efforts to address fundamental research among basic (technology and mechanism oriented), clinical (patient-oriented) and population-based researchers in the environmental health field.

The newly established collaborative teams will come together in common interest to investigate potential linkages between human health and one or more environmental stressor(s). The ViCTER program is intended to support innovative high-risk, high-reward transdisciplinary/translational research projects that are more difficult to achieve. Collaboration among investigators at different institutions through a virtual consortium arrangement is encouraged.

The primary goal for creating this ViCTER program is to support the exchange of knowledge among individuals from a diverse set of disciplines and accelerate the translation of scientific research into meaningful improvements in human health in those areas where environmental factors are known or suspected to influence the development or progression of disease. To accomplish this goal, each newly established collaborative team is expected to initiate research in the development and application of novel approaches for understanding the etiology of environmentally-related disease and, where appropriate, explore clinical and public health implications for diagnosis, treatment and/or prevention.

Research Scope

The transdisciplinary/translational ViCTER framework creates an opportunity to incorporate new approaches into environmental health studies research. Investigators who propose studies with a primary focus on National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) mission relevant exposures’ impact on human health may include other relevant disciplines to understand the role(s) of cofactors/modifiers of the risk or protection associated with the primary exposure(s), to explore exposure processes, and/or identify patterns in data.

Examples of collaborative research projects responsive to this ViCTER Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) include, but are not limited to, projects that seek to:

Use recent innovative in vitro functional genomics tools/technologies and population-based model organisms to investigate genetic susceptibility to environmental exposures.
Apply novel approach methods to rapidly assess health hazards of chemicals of emerging concern; incorporate toxicology or ‘omics data from exposed sentinel species; integrate population-based research to assess exposures in human populations and/or identify vulnerable populations.
Examine the mechanistic link between microbiome alterations and the gut-brain axis; relate changes in microbial metabolites or microbial activated pathways to poor health outcomes; assess mechanisms and efficacy of dietary or prebiotic interventions in protecting from chemical insult.
Frame mechanistic research around an adverse outcome pathway model to initiate understanding impacts from chemical and nonchemical stressors; employ knowledge graphs to identify shared pathways for chemical and nonchemical stressors.
Develop approaches (e.g. tracer methods) to determine exposure rates and/or different routes of human exposure; develop exposure metrics from scenarios such as fish consumption (e.g. mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls), soil ingestion (e.g. lead), or drinking water exposures; incorporate population-based studies to validate models/approaches.
Develop methods/biomarkers to incorporate non-chemical stressors into statistical analyses investigating the link between environmental toxicants and adverse human health outcomes; incorporate expertise in community health intervention to translate findings for potential public health relevance.
Community engaged, transdisciplinary projects that apply an exposome framework (e.g. exposure modeling, biomarkers of exposure, non-targeted analysis) to characterize environmental health disparities or initiate development of interventions to address environmental injustices.

Funding Information

Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards: NIEHS intends to fund an estimate of 3-4 awards, corresponding to a total of $2,750,000 for each fiscal year FY2023, FY2024 and FY2025.
Award Budget: Application budgets are limited to $475,000 direct cost per year and should reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.
Award Project Period: Applicants may request support for up to 3 years (no partial years).

Eligibility Criteria

Higher Education Institutions
- Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
- Private Institutions of Higher Education
- The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:
- Hispanic-serving Institutions
- Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
- Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
- Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
- Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)
Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
For-Profit Organizations
- Small Businesses
- For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses)
Local Governments
- State Governments
- County Governments
- City or Township Governments
- Special District Governments
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized)
Federal Government
- Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government
- U.S. Territory or Possession
Other
- Independent School Districts
- Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities
- Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- Faith-based or Community-based Organizations
- Regional Organizations