Community Forum, ARCO Cincinnati, May 2022

Community stakeholders, representatives from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and CEG investigators joined together in listening and exchanging information and ideas during a Precision Environmental Health Community Forum on May 10, 2022 at the ARCO center in Price Hill.

Dr. Rick Woychik, Director of the NIEHS visited Cincinnati with NIEHS Population Health Specialist Laim O'Fallon, MA. The theme was "Precision Environmental Health," and covered topics related to air pollution, water pollution, lead contamination, and uranium exposure. Community members, public health and environmental health experts, environmental advocacy groups, and federal, state, and local government health officials convened to discuss how we can improve precision environmental health with Dr. Woychik, other leaders at NIEHS, and community leaders. Precision Environmental Health is the idea that if we collect and measure the toxic exposures in a community’s environment, we can then come up with customized preventive strategies to help prevent future disease.

Three early career scientists (Katherine Burns, PhD, Senu Apewokin, MD, and Angelico Mendy, MD, PhD) from UC presented their research related to gene-environment interactions. Dr. Woychik also toured the city and listened to community leaders from Groundwork Ohio River Valley, Urban Health Pathway, and Center for Closing the Health Gap. They discussed current initiatives to reduce water contamination and air pollution in Cincinnati. Read more about the event.