Current Projects
Prenatal Environmental Determinants of Intergenerational Risk (PEDIGREE)
PI:
Barbara Cohn, CHDS; Mary Beth Terry, Columbia University
Description:
The investigators will study human exposure to organchlorines during two critical windows of exposure for the breast: 1) pregnancy when preparation for lactation places the breast at risk for cancer in the mother and 2) the prenatal period when breast differentiation places the breast at risk for cancer in the daughter. There are few human studies where exposure to endocrine active compounds during these critical periods can be measured directly in relation to subsequent breast cancer risk. This research addresses this gap and represents a novel and unique opportunity, efficiently using the CHDS cohort that spans two generations. The investigators together with the community partner, Dr. Marj Plumb, will also develop the capacity for cohort members to participate on an advisory council, enhancing the relevance and success of continuing breast cancer research in this unique study population.
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Environmental Causes of Breast Cancer Across Generations
PI:
Barbara Cohn, CHDS
Description:
Tests the idea that prenatal exposure to environmental chemicals increases the risk of breast cancer. Many of these compounds are known to affect fertility, birth outcomes and immune function and are thus suspected causes of or contributors to breast cancer. However, no human study has been able to measure exposure in the womb, a time of vulnerability for the developing fetus.
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A Lifecourse Approach to Emerging Health Disparities in a U.S. Cohort
PI:
Bruce Link, Columbia University; Barbara Cohn, CHDS
Description:
A Lifecourse Approach to Emerging Health Disparities in a U.S. Cohort (DISP) is a new collaboration between CHDS investigators and Columbia University. The study is sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Development. The focus of this project is to understand how and when racial and socioeconomic disparities in health emerge over the life course. It will provide critical information for understanding why disparities exist and how they might be addressed.
CHDS staff are now contacting eligible men and women to participate in this study. Please consider joining if you are contacted. You will make an important contribution to scientists' knowledge about how the health of people like you changes over time.
All information provided by participants will be kept completely confidential. The information will not go to the participants' doctor or into their medical records. Participants may refuse to answer any question, and their choice to participate or not will not affect their health coverage in any way. Participants will be compensated for their time and effort.
Funding Source:
Prenatal Organochlorine Metabolites, Thyroid Function and Development
PI:
Pam Factor-Litvak, Columbia University
Description:
Study to assess whether exposure to metabolites of endocrine disrupting compounds during pregnancy is associated with a) adverse development in the offspring at birth, childhood, and adolescence, b) mild deficiencies in the maternal thyroid function, and c) whether adverse developmental findings, if any are attributed in part to deficiencies in exposure to maternal thyroid hormone in utero. This project is a collaboration between CHDS investigators and Columbia University.
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In Utero Organochlorine Exposure and Breast Density
PI:
Barbara Cohn, CHDS
Description:
Tests the hypothesis that in-utero exposure to organochlorine compounds alters breast density in women measured at 40-44 years of age. High breast density is associated with increased risk of breast cancer.
Funding Source:
Early Determinants of Adult Health
PI:
Ezra Susser, Columbia University
Description:
The Early Determinants of Adult Health Study (EDAH) is a collaborative project between CHDS investigators and Columbia University, Harvard University, University of California, Davis, and Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. The study is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging. The study examines how birth weight and other prenatal and childhood factors influence the risk for diabetes, heart disease, breast cancer, and brain function in adulthood. This project launched a new era of research at the CHDS focused on adult health of CHDS "children," who were in their 30s and 40s when the study began.
Funding Source:
Maintenance of the Child Health and Development Studies
PI:
Barbara Cohn, CHDS
Description:
Supports the basic maintenance of data files, provides for the sharing of public use files for other investigators, and gathers new information about study participants as it becomes available.
Funding Source:
Prenatal Factors and Risk of Bipolar Disorder
PI:
Alan Brown, Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene
Description:
Examines the relationship between early developmental insults and risk of adult bipolar affective disorder. Investigators aim to better understand early developmental risk factors for bipolar disorder, and assess whether these factors are specific to schizophrenia. This project is a collaboration with the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene.
Funding Source:
Prenatal Organochlorine Exposure and Male Reproduction (Study of the Environment and Reproduction)
PI:
Pam Factor-Litvak, Columbia University
Description:
The Study of the Environment and Reproduction (SER) is a joint project between the Child Health and Development Studies (CHDS), Kaiser Permanente, and Columbia University. This study examines the effects of prenatal exposure to pesticides and men's fertility. Prenatal exposure to pesticides could occur if a man's mother was exposed to pesticides before or during her pregnancy. Some pesticides are stored for long periods in the tissues of the body and might affect the developing reproductive system of a fetus during pregnancy.
The recruitment and interview of participants has been completed and the study is now in the analysis phase. The study will measure levels of pesticides in the stored blood samples of women who joined the Child Health and Development Studies about 50 years ago. In addition, men who participated in the CHDS as children and now in this study as adults completed an interview and gave blood and semen samples.
Funding Source:
Prenatal Determinants of Schizophrenia, II
PI:
Catherine Schaefer, Kaiser Permanente Division of Research
Description:
This study investigates the role of prenatal determinants of schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD).The study builds upon and extends two prior investigations: the original Child Health and Development Study and the Prenatal Determinants of Schizophrenia (PDS) Study, This project is a collaboration with Kaiser Foundation Research Institute.
Funding Source:
Early Determinants of Mammographic Density
PI:
Mary Beth Terry, Columbia University
Description:
The Early Determinants of Mammographic Density Study (EDOMD) is a project by the Child Health and Development Studies (CHDS), Kaiser Permanente, and Columbia University. The purpose of the study is to learn more about the effects of the prenatal period and early childhood on women's adult health, particularly the health of their breasts. In addition to adult experiences such as pregnancy, prenatal and early childhood experiences may affect breast tissue during its development. The density of a woman's breasts on a mammogram may be linked to later risk of breast cancer. This study is particularly interested in the question of whether mammographic density (the amount of the breast that appears dense on a mammogram) is related to prenatal or early childhood factors, including birth weight, and rate of childhood growth, as well as other factors that occurred during the prenatal period. The study builds upon the resources of three birth cohorts: two New England sites of the National Collaborative Perinatal Project (NCPP) and CHDS.
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