Core D: Community Engagement Core

Boston University Medical Campus, Boston MA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract The purpose of the BUSRP Community Engagement Core (CEC) is to direct best practices in community engagement for exposure prevention and intervention. We work with the Boston University Superfund Research Program (BUSRP) Project Leaders, investigators, cores, and staff to fulfil this purpose, and to reduce and prevent exposure to hazardous substances experienced by communities impacted by the New Bedford Harbor Superfund site, and throughout Massachusetts, New England, and the US. Projects 1 and 2 both have human populations and best practice plans for community engagement in their research that have been developed with input of the CEC Leader and partner organizations. The CEC Leader is also a Co- Investigator on Project 2. Both Projects 1 and 2 include investigating the relation of prenatal exposure to chemical and non-chemical stressors with adolescents' risk-taking and related behaviors. Chemicals of concern in these studies include PCBs and PCE. Projects 3-5 directly concern exposures experienced in the areas being studied in Projects 1 and 2 and these Project Leaders are engaged in CEC activities. The long- term goal of Project 3 is to understand the molecular mechanisms by which individual and complex mixtures of Superfund chemicals impair mammalian bone and adipocyte physiology. Project 3 research is very relevant to clinicians who work with children and women of child-bearing age and the broader communities interested in bone and metabolic health. Project 4 and 5 focus on population-level effects in PCB-exposed sentinel animals. The research applies innovative molecular approaches in an ecological context, in order to understand chemical-induced evolutionary changes in signaling pathways involved in the response to Superfund chemicals. The CEC works very closely with Research Translation Core, with the Leaders complementing each other's areas of expertise, skills, and objectives as per each Core. We will work closely as Core Leaders and members of the BUSRP Executive Committee to coordinate community engagement activities in support of all BUSRP projects. Finally, we work closely with the Training Core to ensure that all future scientists produced by our program are experienced at community engagement, and knowledgeable regarding best practices for prevention. Specific activities include community-based exposure assessment in response to community questions in partnership with communities; data interpretation trainings; engaging English, Spanish and Portuguese-speaking populations impacted by New Bedford Harbor in USEPA mitigation strategies, as well as education and engagement to reduce current exposures and prevent future exposures; working with the schools to incorporate SRP Science and lab experiences into the curriculum; engaging SRP scientists in our program and across the country in community engagement best practices focused on developmental and behavioral health in collaboration with NGOs across the US. Our efforts are local, regional, and national in scope.