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. Funding for the new study centers and the study's initial phase is a result of a $69 million appropriation from Congress in fiscal year 2007.

The National Children's Study is the largest study to be conducted on the effects of environmental and genetic factors on child and human health in the United States. The study will follow a representative sample of 100,000 children from before birth to age 21, seeking information to prevent and treat some of the nation's most pressing health problems, including autism, birth defects, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

"The National Children's Study is poised to identify the early antecedents of a broad array of diseases that affect both children and adults," said Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., Director of the National Institutes of Health. "Such insights will lead to the means to successfully treat and even prevent conditions that to date have defied our best efforts."

"Today's announcement represents a milestone for the National Children's Study," said Duane Alexander, M.D., Director of the NIH's National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, at today's briefing. "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."

"Study researchers will examine not only what children are eating and drinking, but what's in the air they breathe, what's in the dust in their homes, and their possible exposures to chemicals from materials used to construct their homes and schools," Alexander said. "The researchers also will analyze blood and other biological samples from study participants to test for exposure to environmental factors and examine whether those factors might influence their health."

The study centers will manage the study in 20 states. There are study locations in both urban and rural areas. Fifteen locations are in the Eastern part of the country, and 11 are in the West. (See page 3 for a complete list of Centers and the locations they will manage).

The National Children's Study began in response to the Children's Health Act of 2000, when Congress directed the NICHD and other federal agencies to undertake a national, long-term study of children's health and development in relation to environmental exposures. (See: Section 1004, <http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=106_cong_bills&docid=f:h4365enr.txt>.) Today's announcement of new study centers follows earlier study milestones, including the 2004 announcement of the 105 study locations and the establishment of the Vanguard centers (the first seven centers, established in 2005).

The study is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (including the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at the NIH, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In total, the study is planned to be conducted in 105 previously designated study locations across the US, including the new sites.

 

Additional information about the National Children's Study is available from <http://www.nationalchildrensstudy.gov>.

 

 

National Children's Study 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, Georgiaand 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 WayneCounty, 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 Hawaii 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 MarionCounty, 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 Public Health Department for King County, Washington

… Yale University for New Haven County, Connecticut