March 2025 Notes from the Director

The winter has been eventful. We received an excellent score on the P30 renewal application. However, final decision on funding by the NIEHS Advisory Council was delayed by actions of the Trump administration. Council is rescheduled to meet April 22, 2025. So, providing there are no further surprises, we should know the status by the end of April or early May. In the meantime, because of the delays in Congress passing a budget, combined with the lack of Council meeting, we filed for a No Cost Extension and requested (and received) carryover banked from the early years. We will be able to operate, albeit at a lower capacity for the upcoming fiscal year (4/1/25 – 3/31/26). Program also advised us to submit a revised (‘A1’) application. The core leaders, Colleen and her staff, as well as Anne Noe in the Research Office, all worked hard and the application was submitted on time. Due to new regulations issued by the Trump administration, the revised application would be reviewed in a study section organized by CSR and not in an NIEHS in-house study section. We are hoping that the original application will be approved by Council and funded in the near future.

Other news includes CIEHS responding to a request from the Calvert City community. As you may be award, Calvert City is a small town (~2,500 population) in western Kentucky that is surrounded by several industries including a PVC plant. This plant has a history of PVC precursor emissions and had a major emission around the end of the year. Exposure to these chemicals is associated with development of hemangiosarcoma as discovered here at UofL by Dr. Carlo Tamburro in the 1970’s. There are now 5 cases of hemangiosarcoma diagnosed in Calvert City, one of which is non-occupational. The community asked for help in monitoring the air and the health of the community members. CIEHS Community Engagement Core responded and held town hall meetings. There was a remarkable response of volunteers to provide biological samples for monitoring metabolites of diethylene chloride and vinyl chloride. The local sewer district agreed to wastewater monitoring. In addition, there was a bird kill. In response, Dr. Mikus Abolins-Abols is organizing to monitor songbirds there for exposures. Dr. Ted Smith and Luz Huntington-Moskos applied for a rapid response R21 grant from NIEHS to perform monitoring. In the meantime, CIEHS is providing an emerging issues pilot grant to initiate studies. This incident and the response exemplify the CIEHS ability to mobilize resources and expertise in response to community concerns and provide data that assists the community to organize and appeal to the authorities.

As noted in the newsletter, CIEHS had a great showing at the Society of Toxicology meeting. Our members organized sessions, contributed both oral and poster presentations, and along with our trainees received numerous awards, see the newsletter announcement below for details.

Also noted in the newsletter is a recent publication in the New England Journal Of Medicine on which several CIEHS members were authors. The group that wrote the article is focused on getting the laws changed regarding production and use of new chemicals. Currently, there is no requirement to test for safety before introduction to the market. This approach has resulted in many tragedies and we hope to effect a change.

Lastly, I am honored to have such a spectacular team leading the CIEHS. Their efforts at stimulating interdisciplinary research has been acknowledged by the ‘Center of the Year’ award from the Office of Research and Innovation. Thank you and congratulation to all the CIEHS members and staff!