# Community Engagement Core

> **NIH NIH P42** · WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $134,823

## Abstract

Summary/Abstract: Across Michigan, there is growing concern about very volatile, volatile, and semi-volatile
organic compounds (henceforth collectively referred to as VOCs). These hazardous substances are carbon-
based compounds that readily or less readily transition to the vapor or gas phase, including: trichloroethylene,
tetrachloroethylene, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene. VOCs contaminate shallow soils and
groundwater of post-industrial cities at Superfund, residential, commercial, and industrial properties, leading to
exposures via vapor intrusion. The Center for Leadership in Environmental Awareness and Research (CLEAR)
is dedicated to understanding and mitigating this serious environmental health problem. The Community
Engagement Core (CEC) is CLEAR’s arm for community engagement and education. The CEC will facilitate a
community-centered process to protect human health and inform public policy. The CEC will direct its efforts
across Detroit—a city with a legacy of toxic waste in its industrial areas and neighborhoods, an older housing
stock, and a poverty rate of 39.4 percent. These factors make Detroit residents vulnerable to VOC exposure
through vapor intrusion into homes. The CEC will engage community members in efforts to identify potential
sources of VOC exposure, and prevent and reduce VOC exposure, with a focus on reducing infant-maternal
health risks. The CEC aims to: (1) Engage community leaders who are a part of the Community Advisory
Board to leverage networks and enhance the effectiveness of the CEC; (2) Use multiple mechanisms
for bidirectional community engagement in CLEAR by including residents in focus groups, community
forums, surveys, and two-way text messaging communications; (3) Include Detroit residents as citizen
scientists in assessing the risks of VOCs in their homes, help them to understand these hazards,
address their concerns and engage them in specific activities to reduce VOCs in their homes; (4)
Include residents in constructing a process for reporting the findings of home assessments and the
development of an agenda for intervention and prevention in Detroit.
The CEC will advance knowledge of VOCs in the local community through research and outreach, including
home assessments to measure VOCs in homes. The CEC will provide information about potential sources of
VOCs and equip community members with knowledge of strategies to reduce the amount of VOC in homes, in
accordance with the SRP’s fourth mandate. The CEC will engage residents and leaders in bidirectional
communication to assess the community’s priorities concerning environmental hazards. Further, the CEC will
mobilize CLEAR researchers, community members and local organizations to address identified hazards.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10867395
- **Project number:** 5P42ES030991-03
- **Recipient organization:** WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Thomas Lyke Thompson
- **Activity code:** P42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $134,823
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-08 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10867395

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10867395, Community Engagement Core (5P42ES030991-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10867395. Licensed CC0.

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