large childrens health study cites

Large Children's Health Study Cites Autism as One of Key Target Areas

The National Institutes of Health today announced federal funding for

22 research centers which will collect data and recruit families to

participate in a study designed to examine the effects of

environmental and genetic factors on children's health. Researchers

will be looking to understand how these factors relate to children

developing autism, birth defects, heart disease and obesity.

The announcement's citing autism as a key national health issue would

appear to reflect the mainstream concern that autism spectrum

disorders have become in government research circles.

The National Children's Study will follow a sample of 100,000 children

from across the United States from birth to age 21. The study will be

"seeking information to prevent and treat some of the nation's most

pressing health problems, including autism, birth defects, heart

disease and obesity," the NIH said in a statement.

The goal is to create a sample of children that reflects the makeup of

the nation's population. A key aspect of the project, based on the

statement released today, is to bring staff on board who can recruit

people in communities around the country to participate in a

government study. Yvonne Maddox, deputy director of the National

Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said in today's

statement: "Building trusting relationships with community leaders

will be critical to the success of the study's recruitment efforts,"

and noted that researchers will work to build relationships with local

community groups and health care providers, to explain the potential

benefits of the study.

"The National Children's Study is poised to identify the early

antecedents of a broad array of diseases that affect both children and

adults. Such insights will lead to the means to successfully treat and

even prevent conditions that to date have defied our best efforts,"

Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, the NIH director, said in a statement.

Congress set aside $69 million for the project this year. The research

study is adding 22 new study centers to an existing base of seven

research centers set up in 2005. In addition, the NIH unveiled a list

of 105 study locations in 2004.

The 22 locations announced include:

1. Providence County, Rhode Island: Brown University with National

Opinion Research Center and Women and Infants Hospital .

2. Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania and New Castle County, Delaware:

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.

3. DeKalb County, Georgia and Fayette County, Georgia: Emory

University with Morehouse School of Medicine and Battelle Memorial

Institute.

4. Baltimore County, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University with Drexel

University, Battelle Memorial Institute, and Children's National

Medical Center.

5. Wayne County, Michigan: Michigan State University with Henry Ford

Health System, University of Michigan, Wayne State University, and

Michigan Department of Community Health.

6. Nassau County, New York: 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.

7. Cook County, Illinois: Northwestern University with University of

Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, National Opinion

Research Center, and Children's Memorial Hospital.

8. Macoupin County, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri: 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.

9. Sacramento County, California: University of California, Davis

with Sacramento Department of Health and Human Services and

Battelle Memorial Institute.

10. San Diego 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.

11. Honolulu County, Hawaii: University of Hawai'i at Manoa with

Kaiser Permanente; Johns Hopkins University; and University of

California, Irvine.

12. Worcester County, Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts with

Clark University, National Opinion Research Center, and Harvard

University.

13. Ramsey County, Minnesota: University of Minnesota with National

Opinion Research Center, Health Partners Research Foundation, and

St. Paul-Ramsey County Department of Health.

14. Hinds County, Mississippi: University of Mississippi with Tougaloo

College, Jackson State University, Mississippi Department of

Health, and Community Outreach for Health Awareness.

15. Valencia County, New Mexico: University of New Mexico.

16. Rockingham County, North Carolina: University of North Carolina at

Chapel Hill with Duke University, Battelle Memorial Institute, and

McMillan and Moss Research.

17. Marion County, West Virginia and Westmoreland County,

Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh with National Opinion

Research Center, Pennsylvania State University, and University of

West Virginia.

18. Bexar County, Texas: University of Texas Health Science Center at

San Antonio.

19. Cache County, Utah: University of Utah with Utah State University.

20. Los Angeles County, California: University of California, Los

Angeles with RTI International; Cedars Sinai Medical Center; and

University of Southern California.

21. King County, Washington: University of Washington with Fred

Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle/King County Public

Health Department.

22. New Haven County, Connecticut: Yale University.

Also see:

Study of Social and Environmental Factors in Autism Subject of

High-Profile NIH Grant

Federal Research Grants Show Intensified Effort to Find Autism Clues,