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UM To Lead Historic NIH-funded National Children’s Study in Florida

10/3/2008

The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine has been selected by the National Institutes of Health as the study center in Florida for the wide-reaching National Children’s Study, an unprecedented look at the health of children in the U.S. that examines both environmental and genetic factors.  Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., and the team of researchers from the Miller School’s Department of Pediatrics who will lead the study announced the details today at a news conference in the Batchelor Children’s Research Institute on the medical campus.

The National Children’s Study is the largest study ever of the effects of genetic and environmental factors on child and human health in the United States. The Miller School has been awarded a $39.9 million contract from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (with an option that could increase the value to $54.6 million) to conduct the study in South Florida and to serve as the coordinating study center for the three additional locations in Florida – Hillsborough, Orange and Baker counties.

In Florida, researchers will follow 4,000 children – out of a total of 100,000 nationally – from their birth until their 21st birthday seeking information to prevent and treat some of the most pressing health problems, including birth defects, obesity, heart disease, and autism.

Steven Lipshultz, M.D., professor and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, associate executive dean for child health at the Miller School, and chief-of-staff of the Holtz Children's Hospital; Tracie Miller, M.D., professor of pediatrics; Jay Wilkinson, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics; and Daniel Armstrong, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics and psychology, associate chair of the Department of Pediatrics and director of the Mailman Center for Child Development, fielded questions from reporters at the news conference regarding their roles in the carrying out the National Children’s Study in Florida.

Judy Schaechter, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, and Emmalee Bandstra, M.D., professor of pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, were recognized at the event and will work as part of the Miller School’s research team.

“This is a historic study, championed by our own University of Miami President Donna Shalala in her former role as Secretary of Health and Human Services,” said Dean Goldschmidt. “It is a privilege and an honor for the Miller School of Medicine to be a leader for the state in this formidable effort that will bring funding and jobs to Florida for the good of children, and that will be of incomparable value to our nation’s families.”

“The National Children's Study will answer some of the most important questions on child health of our time, and its findings will affect every child, every family and every family thinking of having a child in the U.S.,” said Dr. Lipshultz, who is principal investigator of the National Children's Study in Florida.

“The body of research that results from this effort will likely have the greatest impact on what keeps children healthy and causes disease in children and adults when compared with prior government-funded studies in child health,” Lipshultz added.

“The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine is honored to be designated a coordinating center for this study, and we are committed to fully engaging communities throughout the four designated Florida counties that are study locations to ensure its success.”

In addition to the Miller School, the NIH today announced 26 new study centers and 38 additional study locations that will also participate in this monumental initiative, making a total of 72 study locations now in place.  Eventually there will be 105 study locations in rural and urban communities across the nation that are demographically representative of the U.S. as a whole.

As the Florida study center, the Miller School, working with colleagues throughout the state, will help oversee recruitment in Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Orange and Baker counties, with the goal of enrolling a total of 3,600 children over the next six years.  The magnitude of the study calls for extensive collaboration.

“This study requires community buy-in on all levels,” says Dr. Miller, who serves as co-principal investigator for the study in Florida. “We’ll work with families, government agencies, community groups, health care providers, hospitals, public agencies, and universities across the state toward a common theme of recruiting families and getting them excited about participating in this unique opportunity that will help us improve the lives of children.”

Nationwide, the National Children’s Study will follow about 400,000 women through their potential childbirths, simultaneously measuring aspects of the mothers’ physical environment, chemical exposures, biological environment, genetics and psychosocial factors. From those women, 100,000 live births will be followed. To reach the target enrollment of 1,000 infants in Miami-Dade County, about 12,000 households will be surveyed and from 6,000 to 8,000 women will be enrolled.

The National Children’s Study began in response to the Children’s Health Act of 2000, when Congress directed the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and other federal agencies to undertake a national, long-term study of children’s health and development in relation to environmental exposures.