# Sources, Transport, Exposure and Effects of PFASs (STEEP)

> **NIH NIH P42** · UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND · 2021 · $130,833

## Abstract

CORE SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 URI-led STEEP's (Sources, Transport, Exposure and Effects of PFASs) Research Translation Core
(RTC) will leverage and build upon already existing relationships and communication networks to disseminate
information on PFASs and their human health impacts, and STEEP's scientific accomplishments to its
stakeholders, including other SRP centers and their associated researchers; state and federal regulatory
agencies, especially the MA Departments of Environmental Protection (MADEP) and Public Health (MADPH),
RI Departments of Environmental Management (RIDEM) and Health (RIDOH), U.S. EPA, and the Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR); managers and decision-makers at federal, state, and local
levels; and communities on Cape Cod, MA, within the hydrologic plume of the military/firefighting training base
that have potential PFAS exposure through drinking water.
 The RTC will enhance traditional bi-directional communication by making the process an iterative one
that constantly closes the informational loop on ever more specific concerns guided by scientific findings. The
RTC will make STEEP's research results and the implications of these findings readily accessible to
stakeholders to assist them in understanding PFASs effects and characterizing risk. As part of the iterative
process, RTC will embed in the overall communication strategy opportunities for stakeholders to provide
feedback to the SRP researchers at regular intervals, and a clear timeline for researchers to provide updates in
response to community concerns. As this iterative process continues, stakeholders and researchers will narrow
in on scientific questions and research that have needed management and regulatory applications.
 To accomplish the overarching goal, RTC will develop targeted messages for: 1) researchers within
STEEP and the broader SRP network; 2) state and federal agencies including NIEHS, U.S. EPA, ATSDR, and
Tribal councils; 3) other end-users with a focus on communities on Cape Cod, MA, and the Faroe Islands; and
4) additional groups as identified by the Expertise Enhancing Network. Moreover, the RTC will provide
appropriate and timely information on PFASs and unfolding research findings in order to:
 1. Ensure STEEP's results are widely disseminated guided by principles of the Transtheoretical Model of
 behavior change (TTM);
 2. Provide information to state and federal regulators as well as industry leaders to influence the
 mitigation of PFASs use to protect human health;
 3. Facilitate technology transfer where appropriate;
 4. Synergize relationship with CEC to ensure dissemination of information to impacted communities, and
 improve communication techniques of STEEP trainees, scientists, and researchers; and
 5. Coordinate broad-spectrum outreach and communication efforts in partnership with CEC and TC.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10146384
- **Project number:** 5P42ES027706-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
- **Principal Investigator:** Judith Swift
- **Activity code:** P42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $130,833
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2022-09-12

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10146384

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10146384, Sources, Transport, Exposure and Effects of PFASs (STEEP) (5P42ES027706-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10146384. Licensed CC0.

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