UCD partners with California communities to identify opportunities for research to address urgent environmental health problems.
Who created the Community Research Priorities?
The Community Research Priorities were co-developed by EHSC’s Community Advisory Committee (CAC) and Community Engagement Core (CEC).
Twice a year, the CEC facilitates a meeting between EHSC member faculty and the CAC, which is composed of community-based organizations and California public agency representatives. The spring meeting is focused on revising the Community Research Priorities to reflect emerging issues and identifying potential university-community research partnerships to explore in the coming year.
Who are the Community Research Priorities for?
The Community Research Priorities were developed to help inform the work of environmental health science researchers. Projects on this list are intended to provide opportunities for projects that are scientifically innovative and beneficial to communities.
EHSC provides support to environmental health researchers at UC Davis in a variety of ways, including two small grants programs, training and capacity building, and facilitation of community-university research collaborations under a Community-Engaged Participatory Research model. For those who are interested in applying for funding through EHSC, please take a look at our Seed Funding and Pilot Projects Program.
The CEC can help researchers interested in taking on one or more of these questions to connect with community partners for a collaborative application to the center’s Pilot program, the Seed grant program, or for extra-mural grants.
We also recommend that you review the current National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Strategic Plan, as many of the community priorities relate directly to its crosscutting theme of Solutions-Focused Research and Translation.
2025-2026 Community Research Priorities
How can I learn more or get involved?
Academic researchers – please connect with the EHSC’s Community Engagement Core to learn more about how you can collaborate with community-based organizations around these topic areas.
Community organizations – please reach out to EHSC’s Community Engagement Core if you are interested in getting involved in guiding or participating in research at EHSC.
Jonathan London, CEC Faculty Director, [email protected]
Shosha Capps, CEC Co-Director, [email protected]
Acknowledgements
Community Advisors
This document was compiled by the EHSC Community Engagement Core in collaboration with the EHSC's Community Advisory Committee. Special thanks to all those who generously shared their time and expertise throughout the process.
If you would like to develop a proposal on one of these topics and/or be connected to one of the community organizations we work with for possible research collaboration, please email the Community Engagement Core’s Assistant Director, Shosha Capps ([email protected]).
Disclaimer
The Community Research Priorities reflect concerns and research needs identified through engagement with EHSC’s Community Advisory Committee, which includes representatives from community-based organizations and California government agencies. They are written by EHSC staff in consultation with committee members and are intended to inform research that is innovative, impactful, and responsive to community needs.
These priorities do not represent official positions of individual committee members, their affiliated institutions, the Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC), the University of California, or the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).