July 2025 Notes from the Director

The CIEHS and the UofL Superfund Research Center partnered in providing environmental health impacts of increased electric power generation that would be required by the proposed hyperdata center in Oldham County. Drs. David Hein, Ted Smith, Sanjay Srivastava and I presented the information at a community meeting of concerned citizens. CIEHS Communication Coordinator Sarah Jump provided live internet link as well as a recording for those unable to attend in person. Subsequent to our presentations, Oldham County Fiscal Court passed a 150 day moratorium with no exceptions. This action was followed by a withdrawal by of all proposals for a data center in Oldham County by Western Hospitality Partners.

The 2025 Environmental Health Science Core Center Directors Meeting is still scheduled to be held October 28-20, 2025 at the University of Kentucky and hosted by UK-CARES. CIEHS members submitted 10 abstracts for consideration for presentation at the meeting. It is unclear at the present time whether NIEHS personnel will be allowed to travel or attend virtually.

We still have no indication that NIEHS will issue a renewal for the P30 this fiscal year. We submitted a revised application as advised by program. The Study Section to review this round of P30 applications has been formed. The Study Section meeting is not yet scheduled. We are able to continue with a limited program. Unfortunately, due to limited funds the pilot project and core usage subsidy programs are suspended. We will continue to hold the CIEHS seminars including invited external speakers and support the Research Interest Group and Career Development Meetings. Remember to complete the surveys after these meetings to be eligible for CIEHS swag!

The Community Engagement Core continues to pursue its work related to diethylene chloride and vinyl chloride exposure in Calvert City. Core personnel meet regularly with community groups to provide information. Drs. Ted Smith and Luz Huntington-Moskos submitted a rapid response R21 application to NIEHS. The application scored well and they are waiting to hear about funding of this important community engaged research project.