The Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program announced today that it has activated its first sites to begin data collection under the ECHO-wide Cohort Data Collection Protocol. Congratulations to the Safe Passage Study (PASS) Cohort, led by Principal Investigator Amy Elliott, sites at Avera Health – Rapid City and Avera Health – Sioux Falls.
“This site activation marks the beginning of ECHO’s next chapter, allowing us to begin collecting data that will enhance the health of children for generations to come,” said ECHO Program Director Matthew Gillman, NIH. “ECHO is uniquely positioned, through an innovative study design, to answer transdisciplinary research questions that have not been explored in observational research to date.”
The ECHO cohorts seek to improve the health of children and adolescents by conducting observational research that will inform high-impact programs, policies, and practices across the United States. ECHO uses information from existing longitudinal research projects (cohorts) that will include more than 50,000 children from diverse backgrounds across the United States. Together, these cohorts follow participants from before they are born, through childhood and adolescence.
The studies focus on five key pediatric outcomes that have a high public health impact:
- Pre-, peri-, and postnatal
- Upper and lower airways
- Obesity
- Neurodevelopment
- Positive Health
To learn more about the ECHO Program, visit our About ECHO Page.