Research Focus

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Research Focus
Claudia Thompson Scientific Program
Administrator Superfund Basic Research Program
SBRP Applicant Information Meeting October 29,
2003 Research Triangle Park North Carolina
US Department of Health and Human
Services National Institutes of Health National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
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Focusing on Science

• Waxing Philosophic
• Interdisciplinary Research
• Use of new tools
• Down Dirty Details

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The Ingredients of the SBRP
Advance the Infrastructure of Environmental Health
Partnerships
Research
SBIR
Training
Technology
Conferences
Transfer
Outreach
Communications
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Integration

• Multidisciplinary Research Research projects
  and cores from different scientific disciplines
  brought together to address a common theme
• Interdisciplinary Research Two or more projects
  from un-related scientific disciplines working
  together towards a shared goal

Definitions
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Models of Integration
Multidisciplinary Model
B
B
B
N
C
C
N
B
B
N
Fully Integrated Model
Interdisciplinary Model
N
B
B
B
B
B
C
C
C
N
B/N
B
N
B
N
B
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Working at the Interfaces
Non-Biomedical Research

Fate Transport Bioremediation Hydrogeology
Epidemiology Health Effects Signaling Pathways
Site Characterization Biomarker Development Risk
Assessment Model Development
Biomedical Research
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Holistic Approach
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Advances in improving public health the
environment
SBRP Interdisciplinary Research
Intent An overall conceptual theme that fosters
collaborative interactions between non-biomedical
and biomedical projects

• Outcomes
• Promote synergistic knowledge to advance
• the understanding of the exposure-disease
  paradigm
• the development of prevention/intervention
  strategies
• the cost-effectiveness of cleanup strategies
• the development and refinement of risk assessment
  models

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Use of New Tools to stimulate interdisciplinary
research
bioinformatics
imaging
miniaturized tools/technologies
omics
cyber-infrastructure
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New Tools
Chemical X
Miniaturized Toxicity-Screening Kits

Soil/Water/Air
Mathematical Computational Techniques
Molecular tools

Miniaturized Analytical Tools
Omics
Ecosystem

Imaging technologies
Micro/nano - arrays

Probes
biosensors
Pathway to Human Exposure
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Advancing Interdisciplinary Research through
Innovative Approaches
Implications For Health the Environment
Level of Study
Experimental Counterpart
Theoretical Counterpart
Genomics/ Proteomics
Bioinformatics
Risk Assessment
Biological Sciences
Geophysics/ Hydrogeology
Cleanup
Structural Modeling
Environmental Sciences
Integrative Systems
Dynamic Systems Modeling
Prevention
Community
Powerful Emerging Tools Technologies
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New Tools
Caveat Use the appropriate tool to answer the
question -- not to identify or define the
question
.To man with a hammer everything looks like a
nail
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The SBRP An Accountable Enterprise

• The evolution and maturation of hypothesis-driven
  basic research leads to increased opportunities
  for the translation of results into applied,
  "product-oriented" research directions.

Basic Research
Applied Research
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Research Topics of Interest to the SBRP
Almost any aspect of scientific and intellectual
inquiry and methodology that are directly related
to

• Understanding the relationship between exposure
  to hazardous substances and human health
• Impacts of hazardous substances on ecosystems
• Strategies to understand the physical, chemical
  and biological processes affecting chemicals in
  environmental media
• Methods and approaches to effectively reduce the
  amount and toxicity of hazardous substances.

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What Chemicals
Dioxin
PAHs
Mercury
Asbestos
Lead
PCBs
Arsenic
Chromium

• Hazardous substances found with some frequency at
  Superfund Sites
• Breakdown products formed in environmental media
• Hazardous metabolites or their breakdown products
  formed in humans or experimental animals
• Chemicals with structural similarity to
  substances found at Superfund sites
• Emerging concerns

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The SBRP is...
Superfund relevant
NOT site specific
Centrifuge 25,000
HPLC- 35,000
60,000
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What makes a successful program
It should be
A multidisciplinary team focused on a common
theme conducting interdisciplinary research
synergy
It should not be
A collection of individual research
projects while focused on a common theme have
minimal interactions
synergy