Environmental Health Science Scholar Award

Program Overview

A major strategic initiative of the UC Davis NIEHS Environmental Health Sciences Core Center is to recruit both early-stage investigators (ESI), and established investigators new to Environmental Health Science (EHS).

In support of this initiative, the Center has established the EHS Scholars Program, which provides the selected Scholar with partial salary support for 1 year, funding for career development activities, formal mentoring, and priority access to EHS Center Cores.

The program looks for researchers who bring expertise, innovative approaches and technology that can expand EHS research at UC Davis and open up new opportunities within the Center.

“An early stage investigator” is defined as an individual who has not received an NIH R01 or similar grant and who is within 10 years of completing their research degree or medical residency.
“An established investigator new to EHS” is defined as an individual with an established research program who has not previously been engaged in environmental health science research, but is actively seeking to undertake new directions by investigating environmental factors that contribute to disease or disability in human populations.

We expect to publish the next call for applications in early 2025.

Award details

How to apply

The Center periodically solicits nominations for EHS Scholar. We encourage eligible individuals to self-nominate. We are also soliciting nominations from members of the broad UC Davis community who may be able to identify potentially eligible candidates with relevant interests. Clinician Scientists with an interest in Environmental Health Sciences Research are encouraged to apply.

Eligibility criteria

To be considered eligible, the nominee must be:

A current or prospective UC Davis faculty member or equivalent title by the award start date with PI status as defined by UC Davis Sponsored Programs Office; and
An early-stage investigator developing an EHS-relevant research program or established investigator new to EHS, whose expertise and research interests align with the mission of the Center to: (a) advance understanding of environmentally-induced disease and disability; and (b) develop interventions and promote translation into policies or practices that can reduce harmful exposures or mitigate their impacts on health. Applicants can also refer to the current strategic plan of the NIEHS.

Award details

Each selected EHS Scholar will receive partial salary support for 1 year, career development and formal mentoring support, and priority access to Center Cores.

Applications

EHS Scholar applicants are typically asked to submit the following documents in a single PDF file:

1. Current NIH Biosketch

2. A 5-page personal statement describing the relevance of their research interests to the Center and to NIEHS, their research accomplishments, and career goals

3. Two letters of support, including one from the Department Chair, describing the candidate’s anticipated career trajectory.

Selection criteria

Selection criteria include:

Relevance of proposed research to EHSC mission
Training and research achievements
The likelihood that UC EHS Center support will promote the candidate’s career and lead to a successful extramurally-funded research proposal in EHS-related research.

Areas of high priority include the impacts of air pollution, wildfire smoke, climate change, household chemicals or water contaminants on respiratory health, cancer, neurodevelopment or neurodegenerative disease, and cardiovascular or metabolic conditions.

Special consideration will be given to women, underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities and individuals from socially, culturally, economically or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds.

Contact information

Please direct any questions to the Career Development Program Directors, Pamela Lein (pjlein@ucdavis.edu) and Nicholas Kenyon (njkenyon@ucdavis.edu)

Environmental Health Sciences Center