CHICAGO CONSORTIUM FOR REPRODUCTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH IN MINORITY COMMUNITIES (CREHM)

The Chicago Consortium for Reproductive Environmental Health in Minority Communities (CREHM) is a consortium consisting of health professionals in pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, occupational and environmental medicine, toxicology, and public health dedicated to reducing the risk of environmental health threats and improving the quality of life in Chicago’s minority and low-income communities. It is affiliated with the Pediatric Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) at the Great Lakes Center for Children’s Environmental Health and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Public Health. Hektoen spearheaded the development of CREHM and its mission in the Fall of 2005 along with environmental health professionals affiliated with Stroger Hospital and the University of Illinois.

The mission of the CREHM Consortium is to:

  1. Establish a user friendly portal for information on environmental health reproductive impacts and methods of mitigation in minority communities for families, professionals, legislators, and educators;
  2. Conceptualize, organize, and pursue funding for research aimed at identifying environmental reproductive risks in minority communities in Chicago;
  3. Translate the research findings into interventional policies and initiatives for the residents of Chicago;
  4. Provide environmental reproductive advice to health practitioners and patients in Chicago minority communities
  5. Provide training to medical and nursing students, residents and graduate nurse trainees, as well as practicing primary care clinicians in Chicago with respect to environmental reproductive risks in minority populations.

CREHM has received funding support from the Chicago Community Trust as well as Hektoen to provide seed money to develop collaborative research projects and conferences. CREHM hosted in conjunction with the Wilson Perinatal Conference held in Chicago a small conference, Toxic Pregnancy: Conference on the Effects of Environmental Toxicant Exposure on Embryonic and Fetal Development in October 2008. CREHM is also working on the development of a prenatal environmental history survey to be utilized by OB/GYN clinicians. This effort is in collaboration with the EPA’s perinatal environmental health working group that is convened among other member organizations located throughout the US.