Dr. Wei Perng: Understanding the natural history of cardiovascular health across early-life Key Takeaways:  This talk describes cohort-specific findings regarding the natural history of cardiovascular health in children and adolescents, presents objectives of a related ECHO-wide analysis, and provides an overview of pursuits for extramural funding to identify targets for primordial prevention of CVD through […]

Prenatal Air Pollution Exposure and Risk of Autism: New Insight from ECHO Cohorts Key Takeaways:  In the past decade, air pollution has substantially declined in the US because of policies informed by environmental monitoring and research. A recent analysis of EPA data shows a reversal of trends, confirming that a national decade-long trend toward better […]

Using Knowledge-Driven AI to Predict and Explain Environmental Health Outcomes in Mothers and Children Key Takeaways: As increasingly rich and complex environmental health data are collected for secondary analysis, new methods are needed to translate these data into clinically actionable knowledge. The recent explosion in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) applications hold great […]

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 […]