CREATING A DOHAD GLOBAL NETWORK: USING OTHER NETWORKS AS A MODEL

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1 CREATING A DOHAD GLOBAL NETWORK: USING OTHER NETWORKS AS A MODEL William A. Suk, Ph.D., M.P.H. Director, Superfund Research Program Chief, Hazardous Substances Research Branch Division of Extramural Research and Training National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

2 Why Do We Need a Global Network? National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

3 Toddler Crouchin National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

4 The children of today are the adults of tomorrow. They deserve to inherit a safer, more fair, and healthier world. There is no task more important than safeguarding their environment. National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

5 Challenges to Human Health and Development: The Double Burden of Disease Emerging Epidemics of Non-Communicable Diseases New Threats Asthma Injuries, traffic accidents Neurodevelopmental, learning, and behavioral disorders Cancer Endocrine disruption Diabetes CVD Persistent Problems The Unfinished Agenda" Infectious diseases in low income countries: Acute Respiratory Infections Malaria Measles Diarrheal diseases Parasites HIV/AIDS... National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

6 Major Needs in the Global Burden of Environmentally Induced Diseases More and better coordinated local and global data collection on environmental exposures in vulnerable populations related to health impacts and to disease etiologies A global, strategic, epidemiological effort to fill gaps in our understanding of the relationship between environmental exposure and ill health in vulnerable populations (e.g., children s cohort) Consideration of the entire environmental pathway from driving forces to health impact when designing interventions to improve environmental health Understanding of the mechanism(s) and interactions between infectious agents, environmental exposures, and genetics and predisposition to develop better prevention/intervention methods Suk WA, Davis EA Strategies for Addressing Global Environmental Health Concerns. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Vol. 1140: National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

7 Creating a Global Network for Integrating Public Health Outcomes Goal To create and integrate global health architecture Aims Enhance collaborations and communications amongst public health science investigators Integrate investigator-initiated research Seize emerging scientific opportunities Manage knowledge to meet public health and disease burden outcomes and products Establish and maintain partnerships (publicprivate; private-private) Institute community-based primary care and delivery of services for vulnerable populations Suk WA, Davis EA Strategies for Addressing Global Environmental Health Concerns. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Vol. 1140:

8 The Children s Environmental Health Collaborating Centre Network as a Model National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

9 Children s Environmental Health Focus Area Promote Research Collaborations Build EH Capacity through Training Partnerships WHO-NIEHS Collaborating Center Translate Research into Actionable Science Promote Global Awareness of EH Issues To assist WHO in the: Promotion of international cooperation among environmental health research institutes around the world Promotion of global awareness of emerging issues in environmental health Preparation of training materials and support of education and training efforts in environmental and occupational health sciences National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

10 WHO Children's Environmental Health Collaborating Centers University of Utrecht Utrecht, Netherlands University of Albany and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai New York, USA NIEHS North Carolina, USA University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark WHO Headquarters Geneva, Switzerland Hokkaido University Sapporo, Japan National Institute of Environmental Research Incheon, South Korea Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosi, Mexico Pontificia Catholic University Porto Alegre, Brazil Chulabhorn Research Institute Bangkok, Thailand Universidad De La Republica Montevideo, Uruguay University of Queensland Brisbane, Australia

11 Creating a Network of Children's Environmental Health Centers

12 CEH Critical to the Public Health Agenda WHO CEH CC Network Map institutions working on CEH Website for networking and communicating Identify research and training needs WHO CEH CC Network Identification of research and training needs Raise awareness Training Workshops: Establishment, implementation, coordination Collaboration with other WHO Centers Raise awareness Strategic placement of publications/thought pieces on CEH Global burden of disease estimates Build, expand, and redefine (e.g., peer-review manuscript) Inclusion of prenatal exposure data (risk assessment) Target Public health intervention

13 The Superfund Research Program Network as a Model National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

14 The Superfund Research Program Managed by the National Institute of Environmental Health Science, the Superfund Research Program (SRP) funds research related to: Human and ecological risk assessments Remediation approaches Detection technologies Fate and transport modeling Bioavailability and ecotoxicity National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

15 Using SRP as a Model: Centers for Research and Translation to Prevent Disease Network that fosters international collaboration Interdisciplinary interactions among basic, clinical, behavioral scientists, and engineers Coordinated program of research/prevention centers of environmental aspects of disease Brings together schools of public health, medical schools, and engineering schools National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

16 Arsenic as an Example: Translating Research and Developing New Technologies SRP is doing research to: Better understand the health effects of arsenic and the impact on how arsenic affects the body Better understand the fate and transport of arsenic in groundwater SRP is translating this research by: Communicating health findings to a broad audience including federal, state, and local government partners Collaborating with other organizations to encourage well testing and inform the general public of potential for arsenic concentrations in well water Installing deep wells to extract water containing less arsenic and encouraging use Applying arsenic remediation approaches to hazardous waste sites National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

17 SRP Contributions to Other International Networks Pacific Basin Consortium for Environment and Health To address hazardous waste pollution With help from SRP, shifted to include consideration of health effects in 1996 Children s health incorporated into the PBC in 2000: Environmental threats to the health of children satellite meeting (Manila, Philippines) Launched WHO program on e-waste Central and Eastern Europe Conference on Health and the Environment Risk assessment Environmental decision-making Remediation technologies 2014 meeting: Full day devoted to children s health National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

18 NIEHS/EPA Centers for Children's Environmental Health & Disease Prevention Research Network as a Model National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

19 Children s Center Program Goals Better understand environmental factors affecting children s health Turn research into real world treatments and interventions Establish a national network Promote multidisciplinary interactions Provide community outreach National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

20 NIEHS/EPA Centers for Children's Environmental Health & Disease Prevention Research University of Washington* University of California, Davis University of Michigan Dartmouth College University of California, Berkley (2 Centers)* University of California, Berkley/ Stanford University University of California, San Francisco* University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign National Jewish Health Duke University/ University of Michigan Columbia University Health Sciences University of Southern California Duke University John Hopkins University *Denotes association with a Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (EPA/ATSDR)

21 Children s Center Program Collaborations One international example: Columbia Center for Children s Environmental Health Following 4 urban cohorts, each with hundreds of mother-child pairs, measuring multiple exposures and outcomes in: 1. Northern Manhattan / South Bronx 2. World Trade Center 3. Krakow, Poland with Jagellonian University in Krakow, Poland 4. Taiyuan, China with Chinese academic institutions and government entities National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

22 Hitting the Target of Public Health Intervention Creating a Global Network WHO CEH CC Network Identification of research and training needs Raise awareness National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

23 Creating a Global DOHaD Network DOHaD is a complex issue - A global network brings together scientists from multiple disciplines and countries to work toward a better understanding of complex exposures and disease outcomes There are a number of existing global network models that DOHaD researchers can take advantage of Other networks provide insight into the steps required to build an international network Global networks facilitate interactions among groups worldwide The network will contribute to alerting the global health community of activities among centers, raise awareness of DOHaD, and assist in targeted messaging to improve public health

24 The Ultimate Goal is the Protection of Human Health National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services