Research is essential to public health services and it is an integral part of the School’s mission. The School is home to several nationally recognized research centers and laboratories that have developed reputations for working closely with public health practice and a variety of local communities. Funding sources include the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the March of Dimes, the American Cancer Society, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the World Health Organization. 

St. Louis Study Center for the National Children’s Study
Project Director: Amanda Harrod, MPH (harrodas@slu.edu)  
The goal of the National Children’s Study is to improve the health and well-being of children by examining the effects of environmental and genetic influences on the health and development of 100,000 children across the United States. The study will focus on some of the nation’s most pressing children health problems, including birth defects, preterm birth, asthma, autism, injuries, obesity, diabetes, schizophrenia, and other developmental disorders. The St. Louis Study Center will enroll, study and follow 4,000 children from conception through 21 years of age from St. Louis City and Jefferson County, Missouri and Macoupin and Johnson-Union-Williamson Counties, Illinois, which are four of 105 pre-selected study locations for the National Children’s Study. Established in 2007, the St. Louis Study Center is one of 36 study centers currently funded by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development.

Center for Tobacco Policy Research (CTPR)
Director: Dr. Doug Luke, dluke@slu.edu
Assistant Director for Research: Dr. Jenine Harris, harrisjk@slu.edu

The Center for Tobacco Policy Research (CTPR) is a collaboration between Washington University and the Saint Louis University School of Public Health.   The mission of is to conduct rigorous empirical research that is relevant and meaningful to tobacco control professionals and policymakers. Establishing supportive and collaborative relationships with national, state, and local tobacco control partners is particularly important to CTPR. Recent center projects have included multi-state evaluations of tobacco control programs using both quantitative and qualitative evaluation methodology, including social network analysis. Dissemination is a focus of the CTPR; the results of our research projects are analyzed and distributed through reports, websites, and workshops. These resources are used to inform the tobacco control community, policymakers and other interested parties.

Prevention Research Center (PRC) in St. Louis
Co-Directors: Dr. Ross Brownson, brownson@slu.edu, and Dr. Beth Baker, bakerpa@SLU.EDU

The center’s mission is to explore the behaviors that place Americans at risk for chronic diseases such as obesity, cancer and stroke. Center researchers are particularly concerned with the improvement of the quality of life among special populations: the young, elderly and underserved. A unique aspect of the center is that researchers utilize applied research, which means they conduct their work in the communities they wish to help and the local community becomes a partner in the conception, development and implementation of interventions. Established in 1994, the center is one of only 24 prevention research facilities in a network created by the CDC. 

Institute for Biosecurity 
Director: Dr. Gregory Evans (evansrg@slu.edu)
The center is part of a national network formed in 2000 by the CDC to fight bioterrorism (biological weapons, chemical and biological agents) and emerging infections (tuberculosis, HIV, new viruses). It is one of only ten centers in the country and its main task is to prepare emergency response teams, physicians, nurses, health administrators and public health and community officials to respond effectively to health threats.  

Center for Environmental Education and Training (CEET) 
Director: Christopher King (kingcc@slu.edu)
The center provides training and education services to professionals in environmental health and safety, as well as to general workers and the community at large. In addition to regularly scheduled courses, the center provides customized training to business, industry and public agencies either at the University or on site. The center also offers consulting services in a number of areas, including environmental training/education, industrial hygiene, occupational health, and safety and risk assessment and compliance management. 


Heartland Centers for Public Health Workforce Development
(CPHWP) 
Director: Dr. Kathleen Wright (wrightks@slu.edu)
The Heartland Centers include the CDC Academic Center for Public Health Preparedness, HRSA Public Health Education and Training Center and the Center for Public Health Leadership Development. In general, the Heartland Centers goals include national objectives regarding workforce and resource assessment, competency based program development, incentive and certification development, technology mediated communications and programming, and evaluation and research to determine workforce competence and capacity improvement. Academic and practice partners in both Centers include the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the University of Kansas School of Medicine - Wichita, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Public Health Wald Center.

The Heartland Center for Public Health Preparedness is a part of the largest group of centers established in schools of public health to provide training and education to the front-line public health professionals who will respond to bio-terrorist and other emerging infectious diseases. The goal of the Heartland Public Health Education and Training Center is to provide competency-based training and education programs to the public health workforce. The Center for Public Health Leadership Development addresses the need to leadership training for all public health managers and administrators.

Environmental Health Laboratory

Investigations at the Environmental Health Laboratory emphasize characterizing sources, pathways, and controls for environmental contaminants that may lead to allergies, asthma, lead poisoning and other diseases that primarily affect children. Projects have included establishing evidence that large particle allergens, such as dust mite allergen, are inhaled from direct contact with textile surfaces. This project has implications for understanding relationships between allergen exposure and asthma sensitization. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has supported three grants at the laboratory including studies on the most effective means to remove lead from residential carpets and upholstery and hard surfaces, such as wood, tile, and linoleum. Director: Dr. Roger D. Lewis (lewisrd@slu.edu).