Untargeted Analysis of Microsamplers: The Utility of Dried Capillary Blood Spots for Exposome Research Key Takeaways: Researchers use blood samples to measure the levels of various chemicals and metabolites related to environmental exposures and track those exposures over time. However, it can be logistically and technically challenging to continuously collect venous blood samples over critical […]

Cross-Cohort Mixture Analysis: A Data Integration Approach with Applications on Child Health Outcomes Key Takeaways:  Integrating data across multiple studies can enhance the statistical power of analyses and help researchers better understand the association between a mixture of chemical exposures and health outcomes. It can be challenging to combine data from multiple studies, especially when […]

Penn-CHOP ECHO: Applying causal inference methods to address pressing questions in environmental children’s health Key Takeaways:  Exposures during early life can set the stage for lifelong health outcomes and well-being. A variety of environmental factors—including macro-physical environmental factors (e.g., greenspace, pollution, water quality), macro-social environmental factors (e.g., discrimination, income, education), and micro-environmental factors (e.g., diet, […]

Unveiling Maternal Health Disparities: Addressing the Impact of Racism Key Takeaways*: Dr. Amutah-Onukagha noted that: Historically, women of color have disproportionately experienced reproductive injustices exacerbated by medical bias, unequal distribution of resources, and a lack of consistent, timely prenatal care and obstetrics. There are still many challenges and inequities occurring today, including under-resourcing and underfunding […]

Fish Consumption during Pregnancy and Impacts on Child Health Kristen Lyall, ScD (A.J. Drexel Autism Institute); Emily Oken, MD, MPH (Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute); Margaret Karagas, PhD (Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth College) Key Takeaways*: Dr. Oken noted that: Fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential […]

Emerging Trends and Treatments in Pediatric Obesity Key Takeaways*: Dr. Chan noted that: In recent years, there has been a concerning increase in rates of pediatric obesity and obesity-related complications, such as type 2 diabetes. Children with obesity are four times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, and studies have shown that type 2 […]

Epigenetic Regulators in Human Milk: Opportunities in ECHO with a Focus on miRNAs Key Takeaways:* MiRNAs, small molecules known to regulate the expression of certain genes, represent a major class of epigenetic regulators that are abundant in human milk. There is growing evidence that miRNAs in maternal milk are sensitive to modifiable exposures such as […]

The Early Life Microbiome and Disrupting Exposures Key Takeaways*: Dr. Dominguez-Bello noted that: During a vaginal birth, babies are exposed to dense bacterial communities, and throughout early childhood, they continue to be exposed to natural non-self microbes. In modern society, humans interfere with these natural microbe exposures. For example, many women are given antibiotics during […]

Multi-Omic Data Illuminates the Placenta's Role as a Mediator Between Prenatal EDC Exposures and Preterm Birth Key Takeaways: Preterm birth is one of the leading causes of infant morbidity and is associated with increased birth defects and impaired fetal development. Prenatal exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) has is positively associated with spontaneous preterm birth […]

Microbiomes of Pregnancy and Infancy: Implications for Child Health Outcomes Key Takeaways: ECHO cohort sites have collected longitudinal microbiome samples and data spanning pregnancy through adolescence from a geographically, socioeconomically, and ethnically diverse US sample. The power of the ECHO cohort lies in its assessment of exposures in real time with the tracking of health […]

Applications of Skin Color Scales to the Study of Racial Inequality Key Takeaways: In this brief presentation we discuss the benefits and challenges of utilizing skin color scales to study racial inequality. We specifically consider the contributions of studies that have applied this methodology to study racial inequalities among Latinxs in the US and in Puerto Rico […]

An Introduction to the NIH Baby Toolbox Key Takeaways: This presentation provides an overview of the NIH Infant and Toddler Toolbox, or “Baby Toolbox,” a new neuropsychological, cognitive, motor, and social assessment battery for ages 1-42 months. Descriptions and video examples of the new Baby Toolbox direct and observational tasks will be shown, including novel […]

Stakeholder Engagement in Pediatric Disability Research: Why and How to do it Key Takeaways: To study child health, researchers must also study child disability. Research to improve child outcomes necessarily considers those with disabilities early in their developmental trajectories, to identify modifiable factors and drive interventions that promote health throughout the lifespan. However, this can […]