Huge Study of Environmental Causes of Childhood Disease Hits Milestone

The National Children's Study made this announcement today:

The National Children’s Study announced today that it awarded contracts in late September to 22 new study centers to manage participant recruitment and data collection in 26 additional communities across the United States, bringing the study a step closer to full operation.

"Today’s announcement represents a milestone for the National Children’s Study," said Duane Alexander, M.D., Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. "The addition of new study centers will move the study closer to its goal of recruiting more than 100,000 children representative of the entire population of American children," he said.

By following 100,000 children from before birth to age 21, National Children’s Study researchers seek to better understand how environmental influences and genetic constitution interact to affect child and adult health. The study has the potential to pinpoint the causes of health conditions like autism, asthma, pregnancy-related problems, obesity, mental health disorders, and others.

The newly awarded study centers will manage the study in 20 states. The study centers are in both urban and rural areas. Fifteen locations are in the Eastern part of the country, and 11 are in the West.

The study will eventually be conducted in a total of 105 study locations across the United States, pending additional funding. These study locations were chosen for their geographic and demographic diversity and other criteria, such as the number of births and number of babies born at low birth weight.

"We are thrilled with the quality of the award recipients and what their participation in the study will mean for child health. With this large group of new study centers, we will be able to recruit expectant mothers from large parts of the country in rural, urban, small and large counties," said Peter Scheidt, M.D., M.P.H., Director of the National Children’s Study.

New study centers were selected based on rigorous criteria including broad data collection capabilities, the ability to build extensive community networks for recruiting and retaining eligible women and newborns, and a demonstrated commitment to the protection and privacy of participant data.

Study centers will begin making preparations for recruitment immediately, including hiring and training staff, determining community needs, and setting up community advisory boards, with recruitment scheduled to begin in 2009. Some centers will manage operations in more than one study location as the study progresses.

The announcement of new study centers builds on the momentum of earlier study milestones, including the establishment of the vanguard centers -- the first seven centers -- in 2005. In fiscal year 2007, Congress appropriated $69 million for the study, allowing the National Children’s Study to fund the new study centers and step up recruitment activities at the vanguard centers.

The National Children’s Study is led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services -- through the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- and by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Here is a list of the centers:

• Brown University with National Opinion Research Center and Women and Infants Hospital for Providence County, Rhode Island
• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia with Drexel University, Philadelphia Health Management Corporation, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University, Schuylkill County Commissioners, Pottsville Hospital/Warne Clinic, University of Delaware Christiana Care, and A.I. DuPont Institute Hospital for Children for Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania and New Castle County, Delaware
• Emory University with Morehouse School of Medicine and Battelle Memorial Institute for DeKalb County, Georgia and Fayette County, Georgia
• Johns Hopkins University with Drexel University, Battelle Memorial Institute, and Children’s National Medical Center for Baltimore County, Maryland
• Michigan State University with Henry Ford Health System, University of Michigan, Wayne State University, and Michigan Department of Community Health for Wayne County, Michigan
• Mount Sinai School of Medicine with Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and School of Public Health, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, and Battelle Memorial Institute for Nassau County, New York
• Northwestern University with University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, National Opinion Research Center, and Children’s Memorial Hospital for Cook County, Illinois
• St. Louis University with Southern Illinois University (Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, and Nursing), Washington University School of Medicine, and local office of Battelle Memorial Institute for Macoupin County, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri
• University of California, Davis with Sacramento Department of Health and Human Services and Battelle Memorial Institute for Sacramento County, California
• University of California, Irvine with San Diego State University; University of California, San Diego; California State University, San Bernardino; Loma Linda University, and California State University, Bakersfield for San Diego County, California
• University of Hawai'i at Manoa with Kaiser Permanente; Johns Hopkins University; and University of California, Irvine for Honolulu County, Hawaii
• University of Massachusetts with Clark University, National Opinion Research Center, and Harvard University for Worcester County, Massachusetts
• University of Minnesota with National Opinion Research Center, Health Partners Research Foundation, and St. Paul-Ramsey County Department of Health for Ramsey County, Minnesota
• University of Mississippi with Tougaloo College, Jackson State University, Mississippi Department of Health, and Community Outreach for Health Awareness for Hinds County, Mississippi
• University of New Mexico for Valencia County, New Mexico
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Duke University, Battelle Memorial Institute, and McMillan and Moss Research for Rockingham County, North Carolina
• University of Pittsburgh with National Opinion Research Center, Pennsylvania State University, and University of West Virginia for Marion County, West Virginia and Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
• University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio for Bexar County, Texas
• University of Utah with Utah State University for Cache County, Utah
• University of California, Los Angeles with RTI International; Cedars Sinai Medical Center; and University of Southern California for Los Angeles County, California
• University of Washington with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle/King County PublicHealth Department for King County, Washington
• Yale University for New Haven County, Connecticut

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