# Community Outreach and Engagement Core

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2020 · $165,546

## Abstract

COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT CORE: PROJECT SUMMARY
The mission of the Community Outreach and Engagement Core (COEC) is to increase public understanding
and awareness of the effects of the environment on human health by engaging Center members, identifying
and sharing ways to reduce harmful environmental exposures with the public, and linking Center research and
scientists with policy makers, communities, schools, public health officials, media, and other professional
constituencies. The COEC addresses transportation-related air pollution identified by key Center research in
Southern California: significant traffic and poor air quality; emissions from the country's largest marine ports;
and health effects from living near busy roads or having children attend schools near freeways. The COEC is
integral to the Center's goals and serves as a national leader in and model for engagement with
communities—especially those which consist primarily of Latinos and African-Americans living under economic
hardship and facing disproportionate adverse health outcomes. By expanding its focus in response to new
Center research showing that communities directly under the flight path east of Los Angeles International
Airport are heavily impacted by aircraft emissions, the COEC now includes communities under the flight path of
airports in addition to its ongoing analysis of impacts from proposed expansions of two freeways Southern
California. With active involvement from Center members, the COEC contributes to improving the
environmental health literacy of the public, health professionals and policymakers in Los Angeles and
California by regularly speaking at public hearings and analyzing environmental impact reports of proposed
infrastructure projects (e.g., marine terminals and rail yards); updating stakeholders on the latest science using
state-of-the-art communications techniques; and engaging the power of communities in evaluating policies to
reduce environmental health burdens. Besides enhancing environmental health literacy, COEC activities have
built community capacity resulting in recognition of Center research in policy decision-making, playing a central
role in putting EH on the Southern California transportation and urban planning agenda and serving as a
respected source of scientific information for stakeholders when developing science-based policies at port,
land use regulation and discussion of near-roadway land use.1 In sum, the COEC is an integral function of the
Center as demonstrated by its successful outreach methods utilizing local, national and international print and
broadcast media; dissemination of information via blogs, website, and social media; innovative engagement
and translation methods such as developing infographics and visual presentations of information in
understandable terms; and expansion of “citizen science” programs in which youth and community members
monitor air pollution.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9903317
- **Project number:** 5P30ES007048-25
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Andrea M Hricko
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $165,546
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → 2021-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9903317

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9903317, Community Outreach and Engagement Core (5P30ES007048-25). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9903317. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*