Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health

SWCOEH Research Accelerator

ac·cel·er·a·tor (noun). A person or thing that causes something to happen or develop more quickly.

The SWCOEH Research Accelerator was launched in 2025 to help initiate or enhance research projects with an interest in worker health, safety, and well-being.  Whether you are leveraging existing research to expand its reach or exploring novel approaches to address emerging issues, this small grant program has been established to support the acceleration of research in occupational health and safety for doctoral students and early career scientists.

We invite you to explore these small grant opportunities!

2026 Funding Opportunity Announcement

The Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (SWCOEH) announces the availability of funding to support postdoctoral fellows and early stage faculty as they develop the skills and experience needed to become successful researchers in occupational and environmental health.

The SWCOEH Pilot Project Research Training (PPRT) Program has a regional focus and seeks to strengthen inter-institutional partnerships and occupational health research capacity within Public Health Region 6 (PHR 6), which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Funding Available

The PPRTP anticipates allocating a total of $50,000 for this competition. Applicants may request $10,000 to $15,000 in total costs for a 12–18-month pilot research project.

Eligibility

Funding is available to:

• Postdoctoral fellows working in an occupational health and safety-related discipline.
• Early-stage faculty with research interests in occupational health, safety, or worker well-being.

Applicants must be affiliated with an academic research institution located in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, or Texas.

For this program, early-stage faculty are investigators who completed their terminal degree or postdoctoral training within the past seven years and have not previously served as Program Director or Principal Investigator on a substantial independent research award, such as an R01 or R01 equivalent. Previous service as PD/PI on R03, R15, R21, K01, K08, or K12 awards does not affect eligibility.

Early-stage faculty members are encouraged to engage doctoral students in their research. Priority will be given to proposals that include doctoral student participation.

Awards are limited to one per PI.

Research Priorities

Applicants are invited to propose short-term research projects addressing the occupational health, safety, or well-being needs of worker populations in PHR 6 that align with NIOSH NORA sector(s) and/or cross-sector(s). These can be found at National Occupational Research Agenda website.

Funding Source

Support for these projects is provided through a grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to the SWCOEH at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health (T42 OH008421).

How to Apply

Review details about eligibility, application guidelines, and more in the RFA. Applications must be submitted through the online portal. We recommend that you use the application preparation template to prepare your responses prior to submission because your progress will not be saved within the portal.

Dates

Congratulations to our Just-in-Time Research Awardees – Fall 2025

The SWCOEH Research Accelerator granted funding of up to $10,000 to support doctoral students and early career investigators at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. These awards are being used to accelerate research projects in occupational safety and health with a focus on worker health and well-being. The Fall 2025 awardees include:

Muinat Abolore Idris, PhD
Research Trainee
Pilot Evaluation of a Wearable Monitoring Device for Worker Heat Stress Prevention 

Juan Aguilera, MD, PhD
Early Career Investigator
Impacts of Heat and Ozone Co-exposure on Chronic Disease Among Outdoor Workers

Juan Alvarez, MPH
Research Trainee
Characterizing Firefighter Exposure to EDC Mixtures by Biomonitoring

Yun Hang, PhD
Early Career Investigator
Diurnal Temperature Variability and Socioeconomic Factors in Sleep Health of Worker Populations 

Kira Mori, MPH
Research Trainee
Project CASCADE: Meta-Assessment of NASA Astronaut Health Risk Evidence

Kayla Ruch, PhD
Early Career Investigator
Leadership Evaluation and Development for Infection Preventionists (LEAD-IP Study)