Climate + Health Excellence (CHEX) Centers Award Grant

Climate + Health Excellence (CHEX) Centers Award Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Burroughs Wellcome Fund
Amount: Up to US $10,000,000
Last Updated: August 11, 2025

Summary

The Climate + Health Excellence (CHEX) Centers Award provides up to $10 million to foster research and educational initiatives that address the impacts of climate change on human health. This award aims to support institutions or consortia that are developing expertise in climate and health, enhancing public communication, and promoting education in these critical areas. Institutions new to integrating climate and health into their strategies are less competitive. Three awards will be granted over two competitive rounds.

Overview

Climate + Health Excellence (CHEX) Centers Award New institutional awards of up to $10,000,000 to stimulate development of strong research, education, and public communications connections between fields that aim to understand and mitigate the impact of climate change on human health. In general, this award will support institutions or consortia that are already moving toward establishing themselves as centers of excellence for understanding climate change’s impact on human health and for leadership in climate education OR public communication around climate and health. Applications from institutions just starting to integrate Climate + Health into their planning are expected to be uncompetitive. Up to three awards will be made over two rounds of competition. Providing support for U.S. and Canadian research and educational Institutions or consortia of research and educational institutions.

Eligibility

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Application Details

CLIMATE + HEALTH
EXCELLENCE
CENTERS (CHEX)
Letter of Intent Deadline: August 7, 2025
Invitation-only Full Application Deadline: December 4, 2025

CLIMATE + HEALTH EXCELLENCE CENTERS
(CHEX)
New institutional awards of up to $10,000,000 to stimulate around climate and health. Applications from institutions
development of strong research, education, and public just starting to integrate Climate + Health into their planning
communications connections between fields that aim to are expected to be uncompetitive. Up to three awards will
understand and mitigate the impact of climate change on be made over two rounds of competition.
human health. In general, this award will support institutions
Providing support for U.S. and Canadian research and
or consortia that are already moving toward establishing
educational Institutions or consortia of research and
themselves as centers of excellence for understanding
educational institutions.
climate change’s impact on human health and for
leadership in climate education OR public communication
PROGRAM TIMELINE
Full Proposals Contracts
Invited Interviews Signed
RFP LOI Full Proposals Board First
Released Due Due Approval Payment
Aug Sep Oct Nov Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug
2024 2025 2026
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PROGRAM BACKGROUND
The Burroughs Wellcome Fund announces the Climate + connections developed between those working with basic
Health Excellence (CHEX) Centers award. This is a new and applied approaches. We anticipate that support from
institutional research and training opportunity that will CHEX will accelerate and enhance the cultivation of new
help institutions bridge the gaps between fields that will common ground for high-impact basic research, invention,
have important roles to play in understanding the impacts and implementation that can practically change the impacts
of climate change on human health and diminishing their of climate change on human health.
effects. This grant will support new discovery toward
An Outward Focus
defining the health impacts of climate change, developing
potential interventions, translating discovery science Conveying to the public ideas about how climate change
into practical application, and outward-facing work that and human health are linked is important for the flow of
can help public understanding of Climate + Health or insights from discovery research into health interventions.
strengthen connections between research and communities For this reason, successful applications will bring general
whose health has been harmed by climate change. Our (non-postgraduate) education or public communication into
goal is to help these Centers of Excellence achieve their their vision of shared common ground. Either education
strategic goals by supporting activities that help build or communication should be a substantial element of the
stable collaborations between people, departments, and proposal. Proposals that sacrifice depth to include elements
institutions. Building interdisciplinary connections between of both may be weakened by the effort: it is better to go
scholars, between approaches, and between researchers deep into one area than to lightly “tag both bases.”
and those outside academe form the bulk of the budget.
Post-Graduate Training
Basic, Applied, and Translational Research
Institutions or Consortia supported by these awards will
This program is meant to support institutions or consortia develop new lines of research, training, and graduate
that have already begun to work toward taking on the education that will both energize faculty collaboration and
problem of climate’s impact on health. Consortia might expand interdisciplinary research opportunities for trainees.
include neighboring institutions with already established What graduate departments learn from exploring post-
collaborations, but of more relevance to this RFP are graduate students’ interests in the intersection of climate
consortia of institutions united by common interests, for change and health science may be invaluable to developing
example in the health of residents of the Appalachian educational resources and career guidance for K12 and
Mountains or the Great Lakes region, an urban focus, or college students. The training grant element will not be
a focus on rural life, etc. Whether collaborators are at a more than 20% of a funded center’s budget.
single institution or a consortium, we want to see lasting
CHEX will increase awardees’ capacity for innovation at
the interfaces between Climate + Health by:
Enhancing collaboration
Training professional students
Valuing outward focus
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PROGRAM
The CHEX awards will provide up to $2,000,000 a year for heavily toward training and providing small internal grants
five years. We anticipate that up to three awards will be that stimulate new collaboration; a consortium bringing
made over two rounds of applications. together research universities and primarily undergraduate
institutions might submit a program that along with training
Creating new lines of research connecting climate change
and research puts substantial emphasis on teaching. A
and human health will be the focal priority for the programs
group concentrating its activities on connecting bench
that are funded. There is ample room for building on
science and public health research might also propose
institutional strengths to achieve this focus: institutional
putting resources into studying outreach to community
interests in planetary science, one health or planetary
groups and developing effective approaches to building
health, life science, engineering, physics and mathematical
better, more mutual conversations.
science, quantitative social sciences including public
health, economics, and demographics, applied fields, Post-graduate training and the curricular innovations that
and the arts and humanities can all drive dynamic work accompany are a necessary element and are seen as an
at the intersection of climate change and human health. important way to strengthen interdisciplinary connections.
Applications from groups that are just starting to integrate Programs may train PhD students, but may instead
Climate + Health into their planning are expected to be or additionally train postdoctoral fellows; medical or
uncompetitive. Proposals from consortia face a higher bar, veterinary students, residents, or fellows; advanced nursing
as they need to demonstrate shared interests and convince students; master’s students; undergraduates or other kinds
reviewers that they will be able to overcome the challenges of research trainees. We do not expect the bulk of this
involved in working across multiple institutions. award to be spent on training. Trainees may be brought
together across the spectrum from research to the clinic
Applications to CHEX must make clear the core problems
to the community or may be thoughtfully brought together
on which the proposed Center will focus. Supported centers
across a range of sciences (including clinical science)
are expected to both launch what will become long-lasting
that are concerned with Climate + Health. Applicants
research partnerships and to have well-planned training
should develop a training program that fits their strengths
and post-graduate training components. The balance of
and the goals of their proposed center. Planning to train
these activities within any proposal are expected to vary
simultaneously in all the directions described in this RFP is
depending on other resources available: for example, a
likely to yield a weaker proposal.
university with generous resources already focused on
faculty collaboration may have a proposal that leans more
We are not looking for palettes of academic flavors but rather
for strategies that can both bring together some traditionally
partnering fields and meaningfully engage those who have
not typically partnered with health-focused work.
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PROGRAM – CONTINUED
Education elements might involve work in K12 education, the public), and citizen science. As noted above, the depth
workforce-focused efforts focused on associate or of proposed work in education or communication is more
bachelor’s degree-level education, or development of important for selection than trying to do a little of everything.
significantly new citizen science efforts that illuminate
The goal is better connecting research and communications
connections between climate change and human health.
or education by building robust bridges between
Some institutions will have appropriate on-campus partners
departments, centers, and Schools, including those that
for this work, but we expect many will partner with colleges of
have not been highly connected to health and medicine
education, community colleges, undergraduate institutions
or public health in the past. Competitive institutions or
including minority-serving colleges and universities,
consortia will be those whose culture encourages and
museums and science centers, and other education-
enables collaboration across administrative units both
focused organizations. Communications elements might
in research and in spreading factual information about
include work focused on formal communication—for
science, whether through education, public communication,
example, journalism; two-way communication between
or developing respectful approaches to dialogue with those
public health or research practitioners and communities
whom climate change has brought harm.
adversely affected by climate change; collaboration with
arts organizations; public outreach (“explaining” science to
Each institution will orient its proposal
around a core interest
For example: How will climate change impact infectious disease,
nutrition, pregnancy, marginalized populations, our interaction with
the built environment, concerns of a particular region, etc.
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GUIDELINES
n Only non-profit research and training institutes in the around a region might include participation by several
United States or Canada may submit applications. institutions around the region and would not disrupt
Consortia may include institutions outside the US or those institutions own applications as long as there is
Canada, but only one institution, the institution not significant overlap between the proposals.
submitting the proposal, will be paid. Subcontracts are
n BWF does not provide overhead. Personnel costs,
allowed. Research groups working at national
including fringe benefits, are allowed. The administrative
laboratories and within the federal government are
costs of running the program are allowable direct
allowable as partners.
costs. Pass-through charges on money sent to other
n Institutions should only submit one proposal that reflects institutions are not allowed. Student tuition is allowed
the institution’s strategic goals in basic, applied, and only during the time a student is actively supported by
implementation research in the area of Climate + Health. the formal training grant elements proposed.
Individual departments, centers, etc. within an institution
n For-profit companies and government agencies may
may be part of separate consortium applications—for
not apply, but could be valuable partners.
example, a consortium focusing on shared interests
REQUIRED COMPONENTS:
1. A graphical abstract laying out the application’s 2. Interdisciplinary research activities leading to
complete plan and expected impacts and the mechanistic insights for climate change consequences
proposal’s relationship to the institution or consortium’s for human health, with potential for mitigation or
Climate + Health strategy. Both the graphical abstract prevention of health effects.
and the proposal narrative should spell out what core
3. A training grant element not to exceed 20% of budget.
problems will be the focus of the Center of Excellence.
4. Education-focused work on Climate + Health OR
communication-focused work on Climate + Health.
POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS:
1. Activities including policy development and 3. Convening activities for related stakeholders.
implementation.
4. In-house pilot grant programs to stimulate new
2. Economic modeling of climate change activities. initiatives in Climate + Health.
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SELECTION
Scoring Rubric
n Fit to BWF program goals
n Value added by BWF’s support
Valuing outward focus
n Innovation and creativity
n Capacity to seed long-term faculty collaborations
CHEX requires community-focused
in Climate + Health
work that serves the broader public
n Current activities and resources concentrated in
Climate + Health
by informing, educating, or readying
n Training plan for those to be supported by this
a climate + health aware future.
award’s training grant elements
n Institutional track record(s) in interdisciplinary
collaboration For example: Depending on their institutional
n Institutional track record(s) in research training strengths, applicants might develop journalism,
n Institutional track record(s) in innovative undergraduate citizen science, K16 education, outreach to
teaching and connection to K-12 education OR climate-vulnerable communities, or other
institutional track records in science communication, public-facing work to address this goal.
public outreach, or two-way discussions with those
facing health harm or disruptions associated with
human activities and choices
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