Pilot Projects Program

The Pilot Projects Program is an integral part of the Center’s mission to develop the scientific knowledge base, investigator teams, and community engagement needed to reduce the burden of diseases and disability from environmental impacts.
The program funds one-year projects up to $50,000 each and continues to be a highly successful mechanism for fulfilling Center goals:
Supporting new directions in existing Center Research Programs and new Center Initiatives
Fostering creation and collaborations of multidisciplinary teams to effectively address key environmental public health problems
Strengthening community partnerships and supporting community-based participatory research
Providing funding for small-scale studies to generate preliminary data and demonstrate feasibility of new approaches and technologies in support of extramural grant applications
Nurturing development of independent research programs for early-stage environmental health sciences investigators
The Pilot Projects Program is an integral part of the Center’s mission to develop the scientific knowledge base, investigator teams, and community engagement needed to reduce the burden of diseases and disability from environmental impacts. The program provides funding for small-scale studies to generate preliminary data and demonstrate feasibility of new approaches and technologies in support of the following goals:
Support new directions in existing Center Research Programs and new Center Initiatives
Foster multidisciplinary teams to effectively address key environmental public health problems
Nurture development of independent research programs for early-stage environmental health sciences investigators
Strengthen community partnerships and supporting community-based participatory research
The Pilot Projects Program continues to be a highly successful mechanism for supporting SCEHSC investigators and their research.

47

Proposals funded by the SCEHSC
2011-2020

$1.4 million

Amount awarded by the SCEHSC to pilot projects
2011-2020

72%

SCEHSC pilot project awardees whom are junior investigators
2011-2020
Awards for the 2021 Pilot Projects Program will be announced shortly. The next call for applications will open in late 2021.
Previously Funded Pilot Projects

CEC Leadership

Jill Johnston, Ph.D.
CEC Director
jillj@usc.edu
Wendy Gutschow, MSW
CEC Coordinator
wgutscho@usc.edu
Amanda Jimenez, M.S., M.Sc.
CEC Coordinator
amandaji@usc.edu

Additionally, the CEC benefits from many advisors, including a Community Advisory Board with representatives from community-based, academic, public health, legal, children’s health, urban planning and communications backgrounds.

Main CEC target audiences include communities, primarily reached through community-based organizations, together with policymakers and health professionals to address: 
• Transportation-related air pollution and impacts on health, which has evolved directly from key SCEHSC research findings showing air pollution to be one of Southern California’s leading environmental health issues
• Concerns about health impacts from goods movement facilities, including marine ports, railyards and inland warehouses
• Broader health and emerging air quality concerns arising from land-use decisions such as locating industries adjacent to homes and schools across the multiethnic landscape
Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center
Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
2001 North Soto Street, MC 9237
Los Angeles, CA 90089-9013
scehsc@usc.edu
Supported by NIEHS grant P30ES007048
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