and to collaborate with other existing outreach programs, especially those supported by other federal agencies (e.g., other NIH institutes, CDC, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health).

Developmental centers, in particular, are encouraged to foster collaborations and develop outreach programs for ethnic minority and low-income communities. NIEHS currently supports three such centers. Columbia University's Harlem Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, for example, has formed partnerships with community groups in Harlem and Washington Heights, New York, to promote public education, outreach, and environmental monitoring. Interdisciplinary and inter-institutional programs with Harlem Hospital, for example, have also provided a forum for sharing environmental health research findings across institutions. Community outreach forums have addressed a wide range of community concerns about environmental pollutants and public health problems. Similarly, the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research provides comprehensive environmental research and education for the City of New Orleans and the Gulf South region. This center combines the resources of a major research institution and historically black college to foster collaboration between local organizations; state, local and federal governments; industry; and students.

This initiative aims to implement culturally relevant prevention and intervention activities among economically disadvantaged and underserved populations that are adversely affected by an environmental contaminant. It is intended to foster refinement of scientifically valid intervention methods, whereas it also strengthens the participation of the affected communities in this effort. The long-range goal of this program is to reduce the incidence and mortality from environment-associated diseases among these populations. Five grants that concentrate on Native American, African-American, and Hispanic populations have been awarded. This program also serves as a model for other federal, state, and local agencies in designing their own environmental justice contaminant prevention programs.

The Partnerships for Communication program provides multiyear grants that foster collaboration between health providers and community residents to examine and assess environmental contamination specifically located in communities. The primary goal of the grants is to investigate the relationship between economic factors, social factors, and the health