HERCULES: Exposome Research Center

HERCULES: PILOT PROJECT PROGRAM – ABSTRACT/SUMMARY
The HERCULES Pilot Project Program will build on our experience and success to support and expand
innovative exposome research at Emory University and Georgia Tech, in order to broaden the impact and
influence of the Center on the respective institutions and to continue to grow capacity of the Center in its
leadership in translational exposomic and environmental health-related research and technologies.
HERCULES Pilot Awards from the current cycle resulted in over 17 publications and received $9.5 million in
external funding for the research developed by their Projects. Community-engaged pilots were funded each
year and led to impacts on their community partners ranging from federal remediation efforts to local policy
change. The Pilot Project Program will fund six full, year-long, pilot projects per year as well as up to four
smaller ENHANCE grants that will provide HERCULES members with short-duration, limited funds on a time-
sensitive basis, to expedite new environmental health-focused NIH R- or P-level grants and/or gather data
needed for revision of a reviewed NIH application. The mechanism for review of the full applications is
augmented by a new collaboration with the NIEHS Environmental Health Core Center at North Carolina State
University. While the primary criterion for funding will be the perceived likelihood of the project to seed a
successful R-level NIEHS grant application, additional criteria are alignment with the NIEHS Strategic Plan,
cross-departmental (school or institutional) collaborations, investigators entering the field of environmental
health or exposome research, use of HERCULES Cores, and support for early career investigators, to whom
we will continue our commitment to their development with a target of at least two awards per year. The Pilot
Project Program will synergize with and enhance the activities of the Community Engagement Core by
earmarking at least one award per year for a community-engaged research project. We will also work with the
Career Development component of the Administrative Core to identify and provide guidance to those who
might benefit from pilot support. Pilot Program announcements and scientific review will also emphasize use
of the Integrated Health Sciences Facilities Core, and the Environmental Health Data Sciences Core.
Awardees will receive free or subsidized use of Core services during their Award. Through its function of
innovating exposome research, the Pilot Project Program is central to attaining our vision of serving as an
intellectual hub in the advancement and translation of exposome research to improve public health.

Grant Number: 5P30ES019776-13
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: William Caudle