May 2026 Notes from the DIrector

Everyone asks about the P30 grant funding. Because we still wait for a Notice of Award, we prepared an application as a new Center on the advice of our Program Official as an insurance precaution. That application was submitted on April 20 and has been assigned a grant number and referred for review. Since then, we received a Just In Time request for the A1 application submitted last year. We are preparing the information for submission. At least that is movement in the right direction!

The Annual EHSCC meeting is scheduled for September 15 -17 and will be hosted by the University of Rochester. We are hoping that the P30 funding will arrive in time so that we can send a group similar to last year. We are soliciting abstracts from new/early stage investigators for consideration of support to attend the meeting and present their work. More on that as things develop.

We had great representation at the Society of Toxicology meeting held in San Diego in March. Several of our trainees received travel or presentation awards. Dr. Kyle Walsh, the new NIEHS Director, held a meeting with all the P30 Center Directors who were in attendance. Almost all were at the meeting. He presented some of his views which was encouraging. One that stood out to me was that he felt that an applicant who was close to a competitively fundable score who clearly would be successful with a revised application should not be forced to spend the time. He also highlighted an emphasis on funding new/early stage investigators.

There is now a form on the CIEHS website for investigators to apply for CIEHS membership. Using this form will expedite the process. If you have a colleague or collaborator at UofL who can benefit from and contribute to CIEHS, refer them to the form to apply for membership.