About TiCER
Innovative solutions for addressing exposure-stressor interactions with a focus on underserved populations in urban and urbanizing areas
Overview
Environmental Health Science
- Expand and increase the impact of environmental health science at Texas A&M
- Facilitate the exchange of ideas and experimental approaches
- Foster multidisciplinary collaborations that lead to high-impact discoveries
- Identify common exposure and disease interests
A Framework for Research
- Produce world-class research in a variety of disciplines
- Provide assistance to investigators at every scientific stage
- Promote interaction and collaboration among members
- Offer novel and state-of-the-art technologies, expert consultation, and comprehensive training programs to members
Community Engagement
- Disseminate data related to factors that influence environmental conditions, both currently and with climate change
- Develop collaborative, participatory-based, green-infrastructure-focused prevention and intervention strategies
- Support adaptive capacity in communities during acute environmental emergencies in environmental justice communities
- Utilize citizen science for community engagement to identify disparities among environmental conditions and suggest potential policy solutions
Purpose
Promoting Innovation
TiCER is organized around four research themes to facilitate the exchange of ideas and the development of novel experimental approaches. Cross-disciplinary synergies among members lead to new collaborations and high-impact discoveries as investigators work to identify common exposure and disease interests.
Integrating Research
TiCER enhances research capacity, integration, and translation by facilitating research across mechanistic, individual, and inter-individual scales by integrating a set of cores that bridge technologies, capabilities, and expertise.
Valuing Mentorship
TiCER champions the recruitment, mentoring, and career development of junior faculty and future leaders in environmental health research through a multi-faceted program that spans career stages, from new investigators to emerging leaders.
Engaging Communities
TiCER promotes new and innovative research motivated by community and stakeholder concerns that originate from individual investigators or cross-disciplinary teams. TiCER also supports the translation and application of research findings to inform decision-making at individual, community, and policy-making levels.
Specific Aims
AIM 1
Expand and Increase the Impact of Environmental Health Research at Texas A&M
TiCER is organized around four research themes to facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiment approaches, identify common exposure and disease interests, and promote cross-disciplinary synergies among members that lead to new collaborations and higher-impact discoveries. The four themes are “Climate Change & Health,” “Environmental Justice & Policy,” “Stressors to Responses,” and “Environment & Metabolism.”
AIM 2
Enhance Research Capacity, Integration, and Translation
TiCER enhances capacity, integration, and translation by facilitating research across mechanistic, individual, and inter-individual scales with an integrated set of cores that bridge technologies, capabilities, and expertise across the Texas A&M campus.
AIM 3
Recruit and Mentor Promising New Environmental Health Investigators
TiCER champions the recruitment, mentoring, and career development of new investigators in environmental health research through a multi-faceted program that spans career stages, from new investigators to emerging leaders.
AIM 4
Promote New Investigations in Environmental Health Research
TiCER promotes new scientific directions and research originating from individual investigators or cross-disciplinary teams using a robust campus-wide program of Pilot Projects. The overall concept is to promote TiCER’s mission by stimulating new investigations to expand the footprint of environmental health research at Texas A&M. This is achieved by funding outstanding and innovative environmental health research projects. Pilot projects address one of the four TiCER themes, attract new faculty into environmental health research, facilitate collaborative teams, and promote investigations into community and stakeholder environmental concerns. The program also serves to encourage interactions among members, the use of TiCER cores, and the participation and integration of young investigators inter TiCER.
AIM 5
Create an Intellectual Atmosphere that Connects Stakeholders and Researchers
TiCER identifies and educates its members about community concerns and translates discoveries back to communities and other stakeholders to support the translation and application of research findings to inform decision-making at the individual, community, and policy-making levels. Leaders from each research theme, core, and the Pilot Projects program belong to an executive committee responsible for TiCER’s programming. It ensures integration across TiCER activities, tracks core usage, and evaluates benefits to TiCER members and stakeholders. The executive committee is advised by an Internal Advisory Board (IAB) composed of institutional leaders who provide direct access to upper institutional administrators and by an External Advisory Board (EAB) composed of international leaders in environmental health research, technology, and community engagement who ensure TiCER’s mission remains focused on “Innovative solutions for addressing exposure-stressor interactions in underserved population in urban and urbanizing areas in the state of Texas.”