2025 Cancer and Environment Mini-Grants: Building Community Capacity to Address Unusual Patterns of Cancer and Environmental Concerns |
Overview
To help communities build capacity and advance scientific understanding of unusual patterns of cancer or efforts to understand potential relationships with environmental hazards, the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) and the Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN) invite communities to apply for a bundled award of financial and technical support over six months that includes access to technical assistance from a network of national experts, opportunities to engage in peer learning, and a $25,000 grant that may provide funding for unique needs specific to a community or its members when addressing unusual patterns of cancer and environmental concerns.
Cancer incidence rates have increased over the past several decades. Cancer rates for people younger than 20 have risen 41% since the 1970s. For communities concerned about unusual patterns of cancer, it can be hard to connect with or get help from researchers, health professionals, or other officials to investigate and address environmental contamination and/or environmental hazards. The health and economic burden of cancer is high, especially for disproportionately impacted low-wealth communities and communities of color. Supporting communities in their efforts to investigate and address potential environmental contributions to cancer can help to ease the burdens on individuals and families impacted by cancer and better address concerns they may have about the possible connection between cancer and environmental contamination in their communities.
We are offering these mini-grants to support communities that have concerns about unusual patterns of cancer. Communities will be able to build capacity, make connections with experts who can evaluate cancer data, review existing or new data on environmental hazards, and develop sustainable workplans to facilitate the investigation of cancer and environmental hazards. Grantees will also have opportunities to connect with other communities that have similar concerns.
CDC/ATSDR now uses the term unusual patterns of cancer to recognize that some cancers may be similar etiologically (in terms of risk factors, causes, or origin) and presents the revised definition of a cancer cluster as “a greater than expected number of the same or etiologically related cancer cases that occurs within a group of people in a geographic area over a defined period of time.”
It is possible that not every unusual pattern will meet the definition of a cluster as described above; however, unusual patterns that meet some of the criteria (included in the 2022 CDC/ATSDR guidelines) and also have plausible environmental concerns still warrant further evaluation or assessment. For example, many of the same cancer cases may be present but may be dependent upon a factor such as a water distribution system rather than a traditional boundary like a census tract or county.
Who is eligible?
Local, regional, U.S. territorial, tribal, or state nonprofit and/or community-based groups or organizations are eligible to apply for this grant opportunity.
Note that groups do not need to be a registered nonprofit or 501(c)(3) to apply. Organizations must be based in the United States. For-profit organizations are not eligible to apply.
Cancer incidence rates have increased over the past several decades. Cancer rates for people younger than 20 have risen 41% since the 1970s. For communities concerned about unusual patterns of cancer, it can be hard to connect with or get help from researchers, health professionals, or other officials to investigate and address environmental contamination and/or environmental hazards. The health and economic burden of cancer is high, especially for disproportionately impacted low-wealth communities and communities of color. Supporting communities in their efforts to investigate and address potential environmental contributions to cancer can help to ease the burdens on individuals and families impacted by cancer and better address concerns they may have about the possible connection between cancer and environmental contamination in their communities.
We are offering these mini-grants to support communities that have concerns about unusual patterns of cancer. Communities will be able to build capacity, make connections with experts who can evaluate cancer data, review existing or new data on environmental hazards, and develop sustainable workplans to facilitate the investigation of cancer and environmental hazards. Grantees will also have opportunities to connect with other communities that have similar concerns.
CDC/ATSDR now uses the term unusual patterns of cancer to recognize that some cancers may be similar etiologically (in terms of risk factors, causes, or origin) and presents the revised definition of a cancer cluster as “a greater than expected number of the same or etiologically related cancer cases that occurs within a group of people in a geographic area over a defined period of time.”
It is possible that not every unusual pattern will meet the definition of a cluster as described above; however, unusual patterns that meet some of the criteria (included in the 2022 CDC/ATSDR guidelines) and also have plausible environmental concerns still warrant further evaluation or assessment. For example, many of the same cancer cases may be present but may be dependent upon a factor such as a water distribution system rather than a traditional boundary like a census tract or county.
Who is eligible?
Local, regional, U.S. territorial, tribal, or state nonprofit and/or community-based groups or organizations are eligible to apply for this grant opportunity.
Note that groups do not need to be a registered nonprofit or 501(c)(3) to apply. Organizations must be based in the United States. For-profit organizations are not eligible to apply.