George Mason University Advances Long-term Study On Child Health

Scientists, nurses, and researchers successful George Mason University's College of Public Health (CPH) have successfully progressed to nan 3rd shape of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) programme studying a wide scope of early life exposures connected kid health. 

The NIH assistance provides much than $157 cardinal successful awards for Environmental Influences connected Child Health Outcomes (ECHO), and George Mason will person $1.35 cardinal annually until 2030 to behaviour nan study. 

George Mason is 1 of 45 investigation sites crossed nan state gathering longitudinal information connected much than 30,000 children; 1,059 of those children are enrolled successful George Mason's ECHO program. The investigation is conducted successful George Mason's Population Health Center, nan only objective tract successful Virginia. 

For this shape of ECHO, we're gathering accusation connected caller chemic exposures, preconception behaviors, early exposures, and nan consequences of location and societal determinants of health. Following our ample and divers ECHO organization will heighten nan expertise to spell from nine to biology to much affirmative wellness outcomes." 

Kathi Huddleston, PhD '08, main interrogator and CPH subordinate professor

George Mason module and students moving connected nan task see alumni Grace Lawrence, PhD '18, Daisy Posada, MA '18, Megan Bayne, MA '18, Shiva Zarean, BS '24, and Alma Fuller, Lynda Ashie, and Bruna Mayen, a elder biology awesome who besides acts arsenic nan task and laboratory manager. 

The task has followed these families since their 2012 to 2019 pregnancy. 

"Many of nan families sharing their wellness accusation to thief nan adjacent procreation see George Mason alumni," Huddleston added. 

While nan project tracks changes successful kid wellness complete time, nan study had to accommodate during nan pandemic erstwhile researchers moved to distant information collection. Since then, ECHO has been instrumental successful advancing distant investigation study activities. 

"When nan kids were babies, we received surveys and sample kits successful nan message to supply teeth and hairsbreadth samples that we would nonstop back. Now we travel into nan halfway erstwhile a twelvemonth for check-ups," said Susy Ashkar, a mother of 3 boys, ages 9, 6, and 4, who participate successful nan ECHO study. 

"After value assurance and reappraisal wished nan validity and veracity of nan data, we are now continuing galore of these distant practices to alteration nan study load connected our families," said Huddleston. 

This has added to Mayen's domiciled arsenic laboratory head arsenic she collects teeth and hairsbreadth samples arsenic good arsenic basal anthropometric measurements to measure nan wellness and well-being of our children arsenic they grow. 

"As a biobank, we supply high-quality, well-documented biologic samples ensuring they stay viable and uncontaminated, for semipermanent preservation nether controlled conditions truthful they tin beryllium utilized for early analyses, thereby serving arsenic a research-enabling level that advances science," said Mayen. 

"From nan investigation we've conducted during this phase, we tin spot that groups of children who stock a communal characteristic aliases experience. For example, those calved successful nan aforesaid twelvemonth springiness america nan advantage to spot improvement and alteration complete time, thief place patterns, trends, and predictors. All that is imaginable because of nan activity we do each time successful collecting biospecimens, anthropometrics, and galore surveys successful nan participating ECHO families," Mayen said. 

"We person tapped connected a awesome assets of families consenting to stock of their clip to thief subject to amended organization health, and successful that enactment are demonstrating to their children that national subject matters," Huddleston said. "I can't hold to spot immoderate of these young ECHO participants enroll astatine George Mason and bring pinch them that tone of nationalist health."