Today's policymakers must wade through an overwhelming amount of information to establish a knowledge base for decision-making. Thus, good policy outcomes require thoughtful communication of scientific research. Effective translation of Duke SRC research results holds the potential to contribute substantially to the practice of environmental health across NC and nationally. We have three primary audiences for the efforts of the Research Translation Core: (1) scientists at other universities and state and federal agencies (including NIEHS and SRCs at other universities) working on similar questions;(2) environmental health officials and policy makers in state and federal agencies;and (3) community-based groups and non-profits, charged with protecting human health and the environment.
Specific aims for the RTC include: 1) To serve as a bi-directional bridge between the Duke SRC and community groups and other broad-based audiences;2) To communicate with other SRC and NIEHS SRC staff, and national, state, and local environmental health officials regarding the contributions of Center research to contemporary scientific issues;3) To disseminate environmental health research and messages to communities that have traditionally been underserved in outreach and translation efforts, with a particular emphasis on the rapidly growing Hispanic population in North Carolina;4) To use advanced spatial analysis to characterize relationships among contaminants, exposure, and environmental health policy, and then make these results available through the research translation process;and 5)To participate in the transfer of technology from Center investigators to specific end-user audiences. In past years. Center Investigators have contributed significantly to RTC activities, and we are enthusiastic about continuing this collaborative approach. Opportunities for synergy in research translation are created by the SRC's focus on developmental effects from chemical exposure and toxicity and a campus-wide emphasis on the special vulnerabilities of children. This combination will ensure that the full suite of research results emanating from the Duke SRC is available to be communicated to multiple audiences in a timely fashion using tailored formats appropriate to the audience.
The Duke SRC emphasizes the biological costs of early life exposures and remediation strategies throughout all projects and cores. The Research Translation Core will work to ensure that scientific discoveries generated by the SRC will be effectively and widely distributed to the scientific and policy communities, as well as the broader public.
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