A new clinical research facility at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, aims to narrow the gap between research and patient care, and investigate how environmental exposures affect health. For the first time, scientists at the NIEHS, part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), will have on-campus clinical-research space.

The move will help the NIEHS embrace translational research, a critical NIH roadmap component that transforms bench science into medical practice, says William Martin, director of translational research at the NIEHS. Having an onsite clinical research unit is a necessary step towards turning basic research findings into patient care.

Initial topics of study will include the environmental triggers and inflammatory mechanisms of airway diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. NIEHS director David Schwartz says that the centre will help scientists “move the field more towards human health than it has been in years, and contribute to an understanding of human biology”.

The 1,100-square-metre unit will be built close to the main NIEHS building with room for up to 40 study subjects daily. It is expected to begin accepting out-patients by summer 2007, and Schwartz hopes it will eventually take in-patients too.

The unit will provide routine evaluations, biological-sample collection and processing, pulmonary-function testing and bronchial-sampling capabilities. Exposure chambers will allow researchers to determine responses to different types of air pollution, such as ozone, in healthy people, those with chronic respiratory diseases, and those with genetic polymorphisms that may influence their reaction.

Future research interests include reproductive, neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases. Schwartz also aims to develop sophisticated imaging techniques for the lungs, bones, brain and metabolic processes.

The NIEHS will invest heavily in teaching principles of environmental-health science to physician-scientists at the unit, where Schwartz aims to increase their number from 6 to 12. He hopes the blend of basic research and clinical facilities will encourage PhD investigators to participate in clinical activities derived from their research. There will also be 20 technicians, nurses and physician assistants to run the unit and its research projects.