University awarded $9.5M to advance research on child health
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, awarded $9.5 million in Sept. 2015 to the university to study the impact of the environment on children’s health.
U-M is serving as one of six national research hubs over the next four years as part of the new NIEHS Children’s Health Exposure Analysis Resource (CHEAR) Program.
Through the Michigan hub of the CHEAR Laboratory Network (M-CHEAR), U-M will support scientists across the country whose research focuses on the causes of adverse child health, such as preterm birth, reproductive tract anomalies, obesity, asthma/allergies, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism and early-onset puberty.
“Our own research and that of colleagues around the world have produced mounting evidence and concern that the environment may profoundly impact child health and development,” said M-CHEAR Director John Meeker, professor of environmental health sciences and associate dean for research at the School of Public Health (SPH).
Environmental factors like poverty, malnutrition, maternal smoking and drinking and lead exposure long have been known to adversely affect children’s health, Meeker and colleagues wrote in their proposal. But research is still in its infancy as to the effects of other commonly encountered chemicals, such as endocrine-disrupting compounds (like BPA and phthalates), and other chemical or nonchemical exposures.
M-CHEAR builds on work in these areas by researchers at SPH and the Medical School who have established world-class labs focused on exposure science, environmental epidemiology, molecular biology, child growth and development, human nutrition, metabolomics (the study of cell chemical byproducts), epigenomics (modifications of the genetic material in cells), analytical chemistry, biostatistics/bioinformatics and the study of biomarker development, validation and utility.
“We have unique expertise in each of these broad areas, which makes Michigan an exceptional place to conduct this sort of cutting-edge and collaborative research,” Meeker said.
