Congratulations to Dr. Anne Kiche on receiving an award from the University of Iowa Environmental Health Sciences Research Center (EHSRC) to develop her proposed project, Social Environmental Health Risks and Community Engagement. The award is intended to help fund research related to environmental health sciences research and is funded by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences.

Social environmental health risks are an area of particular research interest for Dr. Kiche, who has also developed a course on the topic. As the course description states:

Social environment exists alongside physical and chemical environments of air, water, weather, foods, housing, and workplace. This connection is often ignored in environmental health studies. As the debate on whether social environmental risks is another dimension of environmental health ensues, more evidence on the connection between culture, community engagement and health outcomes in specific populations has become available. Participation in clinical programs, obtaining unbiased clinical data, and access to information on social and behavioral experiences remain a challenge among marginalized populations. Community engagement plays an important role in promoting awareness of illnesses and choices of treatment options, mistrust, discrimination, exclusion, and access to health care services.

This course will run in Spring 2024 and is open to University of Iowa undergraduates.