Health Effects Institute

HEI is a nonprofit corporation chartered in 1980 as an independent research organization to provide high-quality, impartial, and relevant science on the health effects of air pollution. HEI typically receives balanced funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the worldwide motor vehicle industry. Other public and private organizations periodically support special projects or certain research programs. To accomplish its mission, HEI • Identifies the highest priority areas for health effects research; • Funds and oversees the conduct of research projects; • Provides intensive independent review of HEI-supported and related research; • Integrates HEI’s research results with those of other institutions into broader evaluations; and • Communicates the results of HEI research and analyses to public and private decision makers. To this end, HEI has funded over 330 studies in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, which have been published in more than 260 reports. In addition, HEI-funded investigators have published their results in more than 1000 articles in the peer-reviewed literature, informing air quality decisions for a range of pollutants, including carbon monoxide, air toxics, nitrogen oxides, diesel exhaust, ozone, and particulate matter. HEI is governed by a Board of Directors and works with expert Research and Review Committees who, independent of sponsors and each other, evaluate research projects. Occasionally, HEI conducts its own research, but generally, studies are conducted by investigators at academic and other research institutes around the world.