New SPH Center Will Explore Environmental Health Impacts and Nature-Based Solutions
A new University of Illinois Chicago research center (CECHE) will gather experts from public health, medicine, engineering, urban planning, and biological sciences to explore and measure environmental health impacts and test nature-based solutions, such as green spaces, to promote health.
“What makes the center unique is its emphasis on finding solutions and working with community partners,” said Kristen Malecki, MPH, PhD, Professor and Division Director Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. “We have a lot of communities across Chicago [that] are looking for the tools and the data and the knowledge to take that information and turn it into action.”
CECHE was selected by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to receive $4 million over three years to establish research and community engagement activities.
Woven throughout the center’s activities are workshops and training opportunities for early-career faculty and students that will equip the next generation of environmental scientists with the interdisciplinary skills, such as data literacy, geospatial analysis, and biostatistics, to continue this work.