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Special Partnerships

CHE collaborates with partner organizations in a variety of ways. Some of these relationships we characterize as "special partnerships", defined by their geographical location and/or particular focus. Usually one or two primary organizations works with CHE to achieve the goals of each special partnership. Some of these special partnerships are listed below.

CHE Alaska

This partnership explores the emerging science of environmental health, justice and education relevant to the state of Alaska and its people. Coordinated by Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT), CHE Alaska works to inform health professionals, researchers, health-affected groups, government agents and other concerned citizens about environmental links to disease and disability. By providing opportunities to learn about the best available science through CHE-related activities, such as partnership calls and news updates, our Alaskan partners can act even more effectively to improve health across the lifespan in their families and communities. Learn more about CHE Alaska’s partnership with ACAT on the ACAT website. View a list of partnership calls hosted by CHE Alaska.

CHE EDC Strategies

CHE is working with partner organizations — Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) and Commonweal Biomonitoring Resource Center (CBRC) — to initiate a series of CHE-hosted teleconference calls focused on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) research. The CHE EDC Strategies Partnership organizes monthly webinars exploring EDC exposure pathways, linkages to health outcomes, and protocols for identifying chemical substances with endocrine-disrupting capacities. Commonweal’s Program on Endocrine Disruption Strategies joined the partnership in 2017. PEDS became Healthy Environment and Endocrine Disruptor Strategies (HEEDS) in 2019.

The Partnership emerged in response to the interests and requests expressed by various constituents of these organizations. HEAL is a network of public interest groups working in Europe and internationally concerned with environmental health threats and opportunities, with a sharp focus on EDCs in products and the EDC regulations within the EU. Genon Jensen, Founder and Executive Director of HEAL, coordinates the EDC Free Europe campaign to support effective and health-promoting EDC regulations within the EU. CBRC conducts environmental monitoring for chemicals with EDC properties in affected US communities, including fire fighters, farmworkers and populations living near oil and gas production sites. Directed by Sharyle Patton, CBRC research provides the robust exposure data necessary to leverage awareness and guide decision making among communities, health care providers, regulatory agencies and others. HEEDS.org (Healthy Environment and Endocrine Disruptor Strategies) is an Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) program directed by Jerry Heindel. HEEDS is a non-profit multidisciplinary coalition of scientists dedicated to improving communication, coordination, and collaboration in the endocrine disruption field. HEEDS was developed by scientists for scientists. It operates via an advisory board. There are no memberships or fees. HEEDS is open to ideas that can help move endocrine disruption science forward, increase collaboration across scientific disciplines, and communicate results to the general public and policy arena. View a list of calls and webinars from this partnership.

CHE HEAL

This partnership works to strengthen transatlantic cooperation by engaging both US and European partners interested in the impact of environmental exposures on human health. The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), based in Brussels, Belgium, works in partnership to explore the emerging science and policy to reduce the burden of environmental contaminants. We aim to provide a space for health professionals, scientists, researchers, community groups, government agents and health-affected and vulnerable groups to connect, share and discuss new research findings on a wide range of environmental drivers of health outcomes that impact both the US and Europe. We do this by distributing influential research articles and hosting partnership calls featuring new studies to deepen the resource base available to partners in both networks.  

CHE does not take a stance on specific legislation nor sign petitions and the like. Rather, we investigate and discuss the scientific foundation for more health-protective policies in a civil tone.

About HEAL

Since 2003, HEAL has been a leading European nonprofit public interest organization, with over 90 members addressing how the environment affects health in the European Union (EU). HEAL has a strong track record in increasing public and expert engagement in the EU and World Health Organization (WHO) debates and decision-making process.

CHE BUSRP

The Superfund Research Program at Boston University (BU SRP) is an NIEHS-funded program that studies the effects of exposures to substances commonly encountered in hazardous waste disposal on reproduction and development in humans and wildlife. The current program consists of five interrelated research projects exploring the basic underlying mechanisms of xenobiotic/endocrine interactions.

The Research Translation Core for the BU SRP program was developed to disseminate the outcomes of SRP research to governmental organizations, other Superfund programs, and the scientific community in general with a goal to protect the health of communities.

CHE has partnered since 2011 with the Research Translation Core to increase the public health impact of the BU research. Maria Valenti, CHE's science education director, currently acts as CHE’s liaison to the BU SRP. Together, our goal is to bring BU’s research on environmental exposures and disease endpoints into the public spotlight through a variety of means:

  • Partnership calls highlighting the latest science drawn from BU SRP investigators and other SRP’s around the country
  • Information dissemination on BU SRP research and projects via the CHE newsletter, blog, web postings, and social media
  • Participation in BU SRP research translation events and activities
  • Engaging BU SRP researchers in providing technical assistance for A Story of Health e-book and online CE course

View a list of calls and webinars from this partnership.

CHE Washington

The goal of this partnership is to promote the cross-pollination of ideas and opportunities between different sectors concerned with the environmental contributors to chronic health problems in order to create a safe and healthy future for all in the Northwest. 

This partnership explores the emerging science on environmental health, justice and education relevant to people living in Washington State with a special focus on children’s environmental health issues. We provide a space for health professionals, scientists, researchers, community groups, government agents and health-affected individuals and families to connect, share and discuss new research findings, prevention strategies and interventions on a wide range of environmental drivers of health and disease outcomes relevant to the children. You can participate in this partnership through both the ScienceServ and by attending monthly meetings.

In-person meetings are held monthly on the second Thursday of the month from September through June at a rotating location in and around Seattle and can be attended virtually. These meetings provide opportunities to network with colleagues, share ideas and hear presentations from leading researchers and other experts. Please join this partnership to receive meeting announcements.

The in-person meetings are led by Nicole Thomsen, Environmental Public Health Planner III, King County. You can contact meeting administrators through this email address: collabhealthenvwa@gmail.com.