Special Funding Announcement – Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program

Special Funding Announcement – Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program

December 7 2015 – Understanding the effects of environmental exposures on child health and development remains a priority for the National Institutes of Health. To advance knowledge in this area, NIH has launched a new seven-year initiative called the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program. ECHO is designed to leverage investments made in extant programs to support multiple synergistic, longitudinal studies that represent a broad range of environmental exposures (e.g., physical, chemical, biological, behavioral, social).

Today, I am pleased to announce that NIH has released seven funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) to support the ECHO program. Further, NIH will be posting documents to address questions that may arise, and will be hosting two webinars early next year – January 14 and February 1 (exact times will be announced soon). I encourage you to review these documents and to participate in the webinars, as many questions you may have likely will be addressed through those mechanisms.

I look forward to the opportunities this research will provide in illuminating the determinants of child health and development, and the impact on adult health.

Sincerely,

Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D.

Principal Deputy Director, NIH

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