Bridging Research and Action
How the CEHRT Network is Transforming Children’s Environmental Health
Children are especially affected by dangers in the environment because their bodies are still growing and how they move, play, and live increases their risks. These risks start even during pregnancy. Compared to adults, children eat, drink, and breathe more for their size. Because their organs are still growing, they are more sensitive to things like air pollution, unsafe food and water, or harmful chemicals in everyday products. Children from low-income families or communities that deal with discrimination often face even greater dangers.
Children can’t always speak up to protect themselves, so it is important for others to step in. Children’s environmental health researchers have found many ways of lowering or removing some harmful exposures in the environment to protect children’s health. The Children’s Environmental Health Research Translation (CEHRT) network works to turn this research into real-world action. New science often takes too long to make a difference in people’s lives. CEHRT helps bring researchers and communities together to protect children’s health more effectively.
What is the CEHRT Network?
The CEHRT network is funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), which is a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The network has six research centers across the country. The Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN) helps organize these centers. CEHN supports the network by increasing collaboration among members and promoting their work and resources to more people. Each center has three main areas of work, called ‘cores’:
Translation: This is the heart of each center. It turns scientific research into real-world solutions. This core also checks how well these solutions are working and shares information with community leaders, health professionals, and policymakers.
Development: This core focuses on helping researchers grow their careers. This includes early career training as well as ongoing professional development. They also fund pilot projects, or small test projects to try new ideas, to study emerging environmental health issues.
Administrative: This core organizes and manages the activities of the center and ensures that resources are used well.
The CEHRT Centers
Advancing Science, Practice, Programming and Policy in Research Translation for Children's Environment Health (ASPIRE) Center at Oregon State University (OSU)
CHARTER Center at Emory University and University of Georgia (Emory and UGA)
Kids BREATHE Center at Johns Hopkins University (JHU)
Philadelphia Regional Center for Children’s Environmental Health (PRCCEH) at University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)
Collaborative Center in Children’s Environmental Health Research and Translation at New York University (NYU)
Southern California Center for Children’s Environmental Health Translational Research at University of Southern California (USC)
Coordinating Center: Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN)
What is Research Translation?
Research translation means turning scientific research into real-world actions and solutions. It helps make sure that new discoveries are used in places like health care, government, schools, and communities. Multiple studies have found it can take an average of 17 years for new research to be used in everyday care. Research translation tries to speed this up so that helpful scientific information can get to the people who need it.
A few examples:
Emory and UGA’s joint CHARTER center made a virtual reality hurricane simulation to show people the realities of severe storms and provide them with resources to create emergency plans for their own homes.
Johns Hopkins made a tool called Kids BREATHE Lung Health Dashboard. It shares information about air pollution, health risks, and what people can do to stay safe. It also has interactive maps of the Baltimore area. JHU also supports a program called Lung Health Ambassadors, where young people learn how to speak up for better air quality and health in their school or community.
In California, high school students in Monterey Park and Alhambra worked with USC CEHRT to learn about air quality. They joined a workshop that showed how their neighborhoods are affected and learned how to use tools to test the air.
Center Focus:
Every center in the CEHRT network has core research translation projects they lead and work on. In addition, each center funds pilot projects that explore new ideas on a small scale. Each center works closely with communities and builds relationships over time. This process takes patience as each side listens and learns from the other. It is a two-way process where scientists and community members share ideas and work together. Relationships and science come together so every center brings a specific focus to different issues in children’s environmental health. Here is a quick look at what each one does:
OSU: Builds new tools to track health data and maintains an online library that shares a wide variety of children’s environmental health resources for many audiences. They have funded many exciting pilot projects about wildfire smoke, children’s health protection, and child care.
Emory and UGA: Focus on how environmental problems impact Black communities around Atlanta and beyond. The partnership with UGA’s College of Journalism and Mass Communication supports their work in cutting-edge health communications.
NYU: Tests new ways to improve children’s health, especially in communities that don’t always have equal access. They work with another NYU center interested in new exposures, like pollution or chemicals. They developed the Congressional District Health Dashboard, an online tool showing important health information for every congressional district to inform communities and policymakers.
JHU: Studies how pollution and other environmental dangers affect children’s lungs and breathing. They run tools like the BREATHE dashboard and the Lung Health Ambassadors Program to help students take action.
UPenn: Shares helpful information in the Philadelphia area. They focus especially on issues like asthma, lead poisoning, air pollution, and harmful chemicals.
USC: Focuses on city life, air pollution, children’s health, and fairness in how communities are treated. Their work includes creative approaches to youth engagement and how city design impacts health.
Our vision
Children should grow up in safe, healthy places that help them learn and play. When we take care of children, we build stronger and healthier communities for all ages. The CEHRT network knows that many people, whether health care providers, community leaders, parents, or teens, play an important role in children’s health. Each CEHRT center lifts up its region and promotes health, equity, and justice to create a template for how science can serve communities. By expanding proven interventions and solutions, the CEHRT maximizes benefits to children’s health.
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Written by: Ellen Wei, Summer 2025 CEHRT Intern at CEHN