Modified Project Summary/Abstract Section Investigator Development Core The primary mission of the MADRES Center’s Investigator Development Core will be to foster the next generation of independent scientists and research staff in environmental health research. Underlying this mission is a commitment to providing formal and informal mentoring across multiple levels of education from undergraduate to assistant professor. The IDC goals will be accomplished through the following specific aims: (1) facilitate a pilot projects program for promising early stage investigators; (2) re-establish an environmental epidemiology and community engagement internship program designed for undergraduate and graduate students, and (3) facilitate mentorship of students, postdocs, and early stage investigators (including pilot project awardees) across the continuum of higher education, from undergraduates to assistant professors, through individualized career support, networking opportunities, and review of reports, presentations, and grant proposals. The IDC, with support from the Administrative Core, will operate a formal process for receiving, evaluating and selecting up to six pilot projects per year ranging up to $50,000 each depending on scope of the project to promote scientific research careers of early stage investigators. The MADRES Center internship program with CSUN and the pilot projects program will foster undergraduate student, graduate student and early stage investigators’ careers and stimulate new multidisciplinary collaborations in environmental health research.