Established by NIH in 2019, the goal of HHEAR is to promote the characterization of the totality of human environmental exposures called the "exposome". The exposome includes chemical, physical, and biological stressors as well as lifestyle and social environments that affect a person.
HHEAR is a consortium measuring environmental exposures and integrating data with other datasets by providing access to laboratory, statistical, and data science analysis services. Scientists harmonize and integrate data to gain a better understanding of complicated interactions between environmental factors as determinants of health. Wadsworth Center was selected for HHEAR specifically because of its laboratory expertise in targeted analysis of human specimens for organic* and inorganic contaminants**.
This latest award to Wadsworth Center ($2.4M) includes $946,826 in NIH supplemental funding intended to support the Environmental Influences on Children’s Health Outcomes (ECHO) initiative, a program established by NIH to improve the health of children for generations to come.
NIH funding awarded to Wadsworth Center’s HHEAR Laboratory Hub now totals over $7.5 million dollars.
**Dr. Patrick Parsons, Director, Division of Environmental Health Sciences
*Dr. Kurunthachalam Kannan, Deputy Director, Division of Environmental Health Sciences