NIH www.nih.gov has awarded $144 million in new grants to develop new tools and measures that can be used to investigate more effectively environmental exposures from the womb through later years in a child’s life.
Environmental exposures are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality for mothers and children worldwide. These exposures encompass a number of factors ranging from chemical and biological factors to psychosocial factors.
The funded research projects funded with FY 2015 dollars are designed to provide researchers with an expanded range of tools to accurately measure, record, and analyze environmental exposures.
Greater accuracy will help improve understanding on how these exposures change human biology to affect child health and development. This research will help to inform programs aimed at developing strategies to reduce the risk of childhood illnesses and disabilities.
Three specific research projects in the field funded with FY 2015 dollars are going to provide researchers with an expanded range of tools to accurately measure, record, and analyze environmental exposures.
The initiatives chosen are to:
- Develop new tools to enhance studies of environmental influences of pediatric diseases. Researchers will develop sensor-based integrated health monitoring systems through a program called Pediatric Research Using Integrated Sensor Monitoring Systems
- Study the influence of the environment on or in utero development to identify the cause of future diseases and conditions. Research will focus on the Human Placenta Project www.nichd.nih.gov with $46 million in NIH funding to identify specific technology gaps and to develop new technologies and applications
- Expand examining environmental influences on later child development by leveraging existing programs
These projects will advance the tools and knowledge base for a new multi-year initiative that will launch in FY 2016 called the “Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program.