Early Career: Development of Innovative Approaches to Assess the Toxicity of Chemical Mixtures | EPA G2022 STAR A2

Opportunity Information: Apply for EPA G2022 STAR A2

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant opportunity titled "Early Career: Development of Innovative Approaches to Assess the Toxicity of Chemical Mixtures" (Funding Opportunity Number: EPA G2022 STAR A2) supports early career research aimed at improving how scientists evaluate the human health risks of exposure to chemical mixtures found in the environment. The central idea behind the solicitation is that real-world exposures rarely happen one chemical at a time. People are typically exposed to multiple chemicals at once, or to different chemicals over time, and those combined exposures can affect health in ways that are difficult to predict using traditional single-chemical assessment methods. The EPA is seeking research that can produce more practical, faster, and more scientifically defensible approaches for evaluating mixtures that are either fully known or only partially characterized.

A major problem this program is trying to address is the data gap that makes mixture assessments so difficult: there is often limited hazard information, weak or missing dose-response data, and not enough supporting evidence to confidently determine how a mixture might behave biologically. This becomes especially challenging when mixtures vary by location, source, and environmental medium (such as drinking water, air, soil, or consumer product-related exposures). The EPA highlights that mixtures of public health concern often show up as chemical classes or subclasses that are commonly found together, including examples like PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), phthalates, PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), and disinfection by-products (DBPs). The solicitation is not limited to those examples; it also welcomes proposals focused on other well-characterized mixtures relevant to environmental exposure.

The research emphasis is on developing and evaluating innovative methods that can directly inform human health risk assessment and decision-making. The EPA is specifically interested in approaches that integrate modern alternative testing strategies rather than relying exclusively on traditional mammalian animal testing. Competitive projects are expected to use and connect methods such as in vitro systems (for example, cell-based assays and high-throughput screening), in silico tools (computational modeling, predictive toxicology, machine learning, or quantitative structure-activity approaches), and/or non-mammalian in vivo models (such as zebrafish or other alternative organisms). The goal is not just to generate new scientific findings, but to build approaches and strategies that can be used as part of decision-support science: methods that help regulators and public health professionals interpret mixture toxicity and apply that knowledge to human health assessments in a more timely and informative way.

The funding is offered as discretionary support through either a grant or a cooperative agreement, under CFDA number 66.509. The opportunity was created on October 8, 2021, with an original closing date of December 8, 2021 (with the notice indicating applicants should consult the official announcement, particularly Section IV, for submission methods and detailed due dates). The EPA anticipated making about two awards under this announcement, with an award ceiling of $600,000 per award. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others," with additional clarification referenced in the full announcement, which suggests applicants needed to review the eligibility section carefully to confirm whether their institution and career stage qualified under the early career focus.

Overall, this opportunity is designed to push the field toward better tools for mixture risk assessment by encouraging early career investigators to combine experimental biology and computational approaches in ways that reduce uncertainty, fill critical data gaps, and produce methods that can realistically be used in environmental health decision-making.

• The Environmental Protection Agency in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Early Career: Development of Innovative Approaches to Assess the Toxicity of Chemical Mixtures" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 66.509.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 08, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 08, 2021 Please refer to the announcement, including Section IV, for additional information on submission methods and due dates.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $600,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for EPA G2022 STAR A2

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