# Gulf Coast Center for Precision Environmental Health

> **NIH NIH P30** · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2021 · $1,579,735

## Abstract

ABSTRACT: OVERALL
The Houston-Galveston area is home to over a dozen Superfund sites, and is a hub for the petrochemical
industry with 500 chemical plants, 10 refineries and >6000 miles of oil, gas and chemical pipelines in what has
become the country’s largest energy corridor. The area is also home to the largest medical center in the world,
the Texas Medical Center. Thus, both the need, and size of the opportunity, for an NIEHS Environmental Health
Sciences (EHS) Core Center (EHS-CC) in this region is great. As the EHS-CC for the Texas Medical Center,
the Gulf Coast Center for Precision Environmental Health (GC-CPEH) will be the focal point and catalyst for
impactful EHS research, multi-directional communication with local communities and stakeholders, and the
engine driving translation of precision environmental health research advances to improve human health. The
Goals for the GC-CPEH are to 1: Integrate and catalyze impactful EHS research across disciplines and
institutions of the Texas Medical Center, and promote the next-generation of EHS researchers; 2: Provide inter-
institutional access to resources and cutting-edge technologies to accelerate translation, and reverse
translation, of research advances to improve human environmental health; 3: Support and empower
community engagement across the Gulf Coast region by linking community stakeholders and investigators in
multi-directional communication activities that inform GC-CPEH research; 4: Enable rapid response research
activities during and after environmental disasters in the Gulf Coast region. The GC-CPEH has 34 Full
members, 17 of whom have active NIEHS-funded grant support with an annual direct funding base >$5 million.
The Center will support precision environmental health research through its Thematic Focus Areas: Early Life
Genetic and Epigenetic Environment Interactions; Mechanisms and Interventions in Human Environmental
Disease; and Disaster Research Response. The GC-CPEH will also promote research through its Pilot Project
Program, accelerate research advances with seamless access to Next-gen technologies via the PIPELINE
Facility Core and an IHSFC that will promote translational research; activities facilitated by Navigators and the
Matching Funds Core Utilization Program. The Administrative Core, composed of highly seasoned EHS
leaders, provides organizational infrastructure, and mentoring for junior faculty that includes a Career
Development Leaders-in-Training program to promote development of research and professional leadership
skills. An experienced and vibrant CEC will foster multi-directional communication with communities and
stakeholders, and inform environmental health policy for the Gulf Coast Region.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10134342
- **Project number:** 5P30ES030285-03
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Cornelis Johan Elferink
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $1,579,735
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-05-15 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10134342

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10134342, Gulf Coast Center for Precision Environmental Health (5P30ES030285-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10134342. Licensed CC0.

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