A grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has enabled the EMPOWER Program at the Georgia State University School of Public Health to expand its reach and duration to foster greater diversity in environmental health research by building relationships with underserved high schools in metro Atlanta.

“EMPOWER 2.0 is designed to engage and empower underrepresented students in intensive, hands-on science research experiences,” said program director Adrienne King, a clinical associate professor in the School of Public Health’s Department of Population Health Sciences. “We aim to build confidence and competency through technological and innovative strategies while reinforcing high school science standards.”

EMPOWER (Engaging Multidisciplinary Professional Opportunities for Women in Environmental Research) was launched in 2019 as an eight-week, hands-on environmental health summer research program for high school juniors and seniors from underserved schools, as well as teachers.

NIEHS renewed the program’s grant for another five years through 2029, and the new funding combined with additional support from GSU’s Women’s Philanthropy Network has allowed the program to expand to increase the number of participants in EMPOWER 2.0. Participants engage in air and water research, test experimental hypotheses and define potential health risks for select Atlanta communities.

“This year we had one of our largest cohorts, with seven students and five teachers,” King said.

In addition to new research areas, several new partners have joined the program. Na’Taki Osborne Jelks, an assistant professor in the Environmental and Health Sciences program at Spelman College, engages students and teachers in an intensive exploration of contrasting urban creeks in metro Atlanta. In addition, she will expose participants to PhotoVoice, which is a qualitative research method, to document environmental disparities in urban creeks.

Chemical Insights Research Institute (CIRI), a global leader in applied safety science, has also partnered with EMPOWER 2.0 to host lunch-and-learn seminars with a CIRI scientist every Friday during the program.

In addition to King, faculty and students involved in the EMPOWER 2.0 program are:

• Lisa Casanova, Associate Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences, GSU SPH

• Roby Greenwald, Associate Professor, Department of Population Health Sciences, GSU SPH

• Antoinette Bell-Kareem, Lecturer, Institute for Biomedical Sciences, GSU

• Cassandra Johnson, MPH Graduate Student Assistant, GSU SPH

• Roger Ayite, Undergraduate Student Assistant, GSU SPH

• Na’Taki Osborne Jelks, Assistant Professor, Environmental Health Sciences, Spelman College

• Christa Wright, Research Director, Center for Toxicology and Human Health, Chemical Insights Research Institute, UL Research Institute

The EMPOWER 2.0 Program is supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number 2R25ES030240-04. The content of this news release does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.