In May, the NIH ECHO Program Office released a Request for Information (RFI) to seek input from the scientific community and the general public about enhancing ECHO science. We are currently reviewing the valuable feedback you provided, and we will share a summary of the comments in the coming weeks.

Additionally, last month, ECHO hosted a two-day workshop on the preconceptional origins of child health. The workshop featured a welcome by NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins and presentations by experts who discussed the state of the science, research gaps, and opportunities related to how preconception exposures may influence child health outcomes.

Thank you to those who participated in these opportunities to enhance ECHO Program science and future pediatric research.

In July’s issue of the ECHO Connector, we are pleased to share our latest news and findings on topics including the role epigenetics may play in the inheritance of health risks, clinical trials recruitment, and the progress of the ECHO Program. In addition, this month’s Connector highlights insights about diversity, disparity, and resilience from the Principal Investigator of our Navajo Birth Cohort, which shares data with ECHO grantees as part of the first Tribal data-sharing agreement for a nationwide research consortium.

I would also like to thank ECHO Connector readers and ECHO participants for their continued support. July’s ECHO Connector includes information regarding a survey on the current state of the ECHO Connector, with opportunities to provide feedback on the ECHO Program’s website materials and resources. The survey should take no longer than 5 minutes to complete. With your participation and feedback, we hope to enhance ECHO’s communications and resources.