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PM Centers
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In May 1998, EPA's STAR Program issued a request for applications (RFA) for research grant proposals to establish five PM Centers following the recommendations from the National Research Council report, Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter: 1) Immediate Priorities and Long-Range Research Portfolio, and direction from Congress in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) 1998 appropriation. The five centers established in June 1999, were selected from 22 applicants after a merit review by a panel of external scientific experts. These centers will advance the understanding of PM health effects, how they occur, and improve understanding of populations who are susceptible to health effects from exposure.
The PM Research Centers are a central component of EPA's on-going integrated research program for PM which also includes ORD's intramural research program, interagency research and other STAR Program RFAs for individual research grants. The centers will advance scientific understanding of the health effects of PM in the following priority areas:
- Exposure: Improve assessments of personal exposures to PM in normal human populations and in sensitive populations (i.e., the elderly, individuals with respiratory or cardiovascular disease, and children).
- Dosimetry and Modeling: Develop new models regarding the amount of particulate matter deposited in the lungs of exposed individuals. This is critical in understanding the relationships between individual exposure and health responses of sensitive populations.
- Toxicology: Identify which constituents or properties of PM are most responsible for human health effects and how these effects occur. Reducing uncertainty in this area is important for human health risk assessment.
- Epidemiology: Improve understanding of which groups are particularly susceptible to health effects from PM exposure.
The Harvard Particulate Center 
will address key scientific issues regarding the health effects of ambient particles. The specific aims of the Center reflect eight of the National Research Council's ten highest research priorities for ambient particle research. To meet these objectives, the Center will focus on three research themes: exposure, susceptibility, and biological mechanisms/dosimetry. By building the Center around these three defined research themes, the Center will remain focused while maintaining an integrated and inter-disciplinary research approach, both of which will be critical to our ability to address key particulate health effect issues in a timely manner. Each of our three research themes will include projects that span several disciplines and that draw from the expertise and experience of our Center investigators.
Northwest Research Center for Particulate Air Pollution and Health
The Northwest Center for Particulate Matter and Health is one of five centers around the country funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency to study the effects on human health of particulate air pollution. It is important to estimate these effects accurately. On one hand they could add up to a significant public health burden. On the other hand reductions in particulate pollution beyond what is necessary for public safety could have serious economic impacts. Our planned research, together with that of other groups around the world, will contribute to decisions about air quality standards and to the understanding of how we are affected by the air we breathe.
NYU School of Medicine PM Center
The overall objective of the NYU-EPA Particulate Matter (PM) Health Research Center is to develop and conduct a comprehensive research program focused on the identification and characterization of the physical and chemical properties of particulate matter (PM) that adversely impact human health. The focal hypothesis of this PM Center is that specific chemical species within PM and within certain particle size ranges are primarily responsible for PM's mortality, morbidity, and functional effects.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has awarded the University of Rochester a STAR (“Science To Achieve Results”) Center grant (R827354). It provides support for one of five such centers established to study the role of airborne particulate matter, especially ultrafine particles, in causing health problems. A multidisciplinary team of experienced investigators are testing the hypothesis that ultrafine particles occurring in the urban atmosphere cause adverse health effects.
Southern California Center for Airborne Particulate Matter
The overall objective of the Southern California Center for Airborne Particulate Matter (SCCAPM) is to bring together outstanding scientists from the leading universities in Southern California to identify and conduct high priority research to better understand the effects of particulate matter (PM) and ensure protection of public health. The SCCAPM makes use of an integrated approach to address each of the areas of Exposure, Dosimetry, Toxicology, and Epidemiology. This integration is accomplished by seeking out and involving in the Center some of the major figures in air quality and environmental health. A team has been assembled for SCCAPM that is committed to the need for strong cross- and interdisciplinary programs of research in order to address the challenging issues posed by PM. By improving our fundamental and observational understanding of the complex relation between particle exposure and human health, it is our goal to lay a firm scientific foundation for effective intervention strategies for public health protection.