The University of California announced today (Oct. 4) that it has been selected by the National Institutes of Health to create groundbreaking study centers at three campus sites for the National Children’s Study, the largest research on the effects of environmental and genetic factors on child and adult health. The new Study Centers in California will be awarded to UC Irvine (for San Diego and San Bernardino counties, to go along with the existing Vanguard Center for Orange County), UCLA (for Los Angeles and Ventura counties), and UC Davis (for Sacramento and San Mateo counties). The total award for the three UC centers is $105.6 million.
The National Children’s Study (NCS) is an extraordinary project that will identify 105,000 children before birth and follow them until the age of 21 years. This research will provide a nationwide evaluation of some of the common and rare disorders of childhood that seem to be increasing at epidemic rates (e.g., preterm birth, obesity, asthma, diabetes, autism, etc.). The NCS has been under development by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development since 2000 when the U.S. Congress authorized a large-scale investigation of the effects of the changing modern environment on disorders of childhood. After five years of preparation, the final phases of refinement were initiated by seven Vanguard Centers that were established in 2005, including one in Orange County.
The magnitude of the NCS requires collaboration across many institutions and community groups in each county, and the new Study Centers include participation of UC San Diego; San Diego State University; California State University, Bakersfield; CSU San Bernardino; Loma Linda University; University of Southern California; Battelle Memorial Institute; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; the First 5 Commissions of each county in California; and the county health departments of each location.
“The University of California is proud to be a significant part of this study of California and our nation’s children. The NIH grants represent a wonderful opportunity for our campuses to play a historic role in understanding some of the most pressing health challenges that face our children. In addition, this kind of multicampus, multidisciplinary venture is a hallmark of UC excellence,” said UC President Robert C. Dynes.
“As a public research institution, these awards demonstrate our core commitment to developing scientific knowledge that will serve California and our nation and we look forward to helping develop comprehensive research that will be useful to scientists, policy makers and health care workers,” Dynes said.
The NIH today announced a total of 22 new Study Centers covering 30 locations (defined by counties) across the United States. Eventually, there will be 105 NCS locations, with each identifying and following 1,000 children; 12 of these centers will be in California.
NIH has approved $47.9 million for UCLA to launch the study and enroll 5,000 children in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, in waves of 1,000 each. The first installment of funding -- $14.7 million -- will cover the establishment of the study center, a 22-month planning phase and 38-month initial enrollment of the first 1,000 children. Actual data collection for this first wave is scheduled to begin in the late summer of 2009.
The UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities is an internationally distinguished leader in child health research and policy. The grant will be housed within the division of Child Health Policy and Community Pediatrics at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA. The UCLA-based team of scientific investigators will be joined by collaborating investigators from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, USC, Charles Drew University, Los Angeles Department of Public Health, First 5 Los Angeles County, Ventura County Public Health Department, First 5 Ventura County, RTI International and the RAND Corporation.
UC Irvine will receive $25.9 million and will continue its research work for the NIH begun in 2005. As part of the Orange County Vanguard Center, UC Irvine investigators have for the past two years led national teams to refine procedures and protocols for gathering data on important genetic and environmental exposures. James Swanson, professor of pediatrics and director of the Child Development Center; Dean Baker, professor of medicine and director of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health; Feizal Waffarn, chair of pediatrics; Pathik Wadhwa, associate professor of psychiatry; and Alison Clarke-Stewart, professor of psychology, are the investigators leading the study at UCI. The team is working with community partners from the Children and Families Commission of Orange County, Children’s Hospital of Orange County, and the Orange County Health Care Agency. As part of the important collaboration process, in the first installment of funding researchers at UC San Diego will receive $14 million from the UC Irvine total and help recruit 1,000 families for the study.
UC Davis, the only Northern California NCS study center, will receive nearly $31.8 million to lead study recruitment, community engagement and data collection for Sacramento and San Mateo counties. UC Davis is a national leader in child health research. In addition to a comprehensive children’s hospital and a research institute focused on childhood neurodevelopment, UC Davis has conducted several large-scale population-based studies focused on childhood health and environmental exposures. Led by environmental epidemiologist Irva Hertz-Picciotto, the NCS research team at UC Davis will collaborate closely with county health departments and community stakeholders in meeting study goals and the broader mission of improving children’s health.
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