Pilot Project Core

Project Summary/Abstract
The primary goal of this P20 planning grant is to establish the Mni Sota Center for Climate Change and
Health by developing a network of scientists and community members to build capacity for climate and
health research. The evolving nature of how a changing climate is impacting health will require
collaborations involving scientists, public health professionals, and community partners to identify critical
health concerns and create solutions for adaptation. To address this need he MC3H will administer a Pilot
Project and Emerging Issues Program. The overall goal of this program is to develop new initiatives and
partnerships in climate and health research that will create a substantial and sustainable research agenda
for climate change and health with specific goals as follow. 1) Lay the foundation for innovative and
impactful programs that address emerging and persistent challenges related to the health impacts of
climate change. 2) Facilitate the development of multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral partnerships to build
capacity for research related to climate change and health utilizing existing and novel data and community
resources. 3) Engage regional community partners to be involved with climate change and health research
with an emphasis on rural and American Indian communities. 4) Respond to rapidly evolving emerging and
re-emerging issues related to the health impacts of climate change. 5) Develop cutting edge research pilot
projects on the health impacts of climate change that have high probability of obtaining additional and
substantial funding. Areas of emphasis will be annually derived from a research agenda co-developed by
the Community Engagement Core and community partners with input from the External Advisory Board. A
funding opportunity announcement will be developed and delivered annually to potential investigators in
academia, government, non-governmental organizations, and Tribal communities. The center will facilitate
partnerships between experienced and less experienced investigators to propose and conduct pilot
research and develop subsequent high-quality proposals for more substantial projects in a timely manner.
The proposals will be reviewed for scientific and programmatic merit and final funding decisions will be
made by the Center Director. The center will establish protocols and that promote best practices when
conducting research with American Indian communities and for sharing results with communities.
Communication back to the relevant communities will be required. The center will track and evaluate the
progress of the research and work with the grant recipients on the process of preparing follow-up proposals
to ensure conversion of the pilot research into more substantive projects. Additionally, with input from the
External Advisory Board and community partners time critical emerging issues will be identified that can be
investigated by center staff to yield novel information related to climate change. All activities conducted in
this program will be highlighted as poster presentations the annual center symposium.

Grant Number: 5P20MD019990-02
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Bruce Alexander