Oct 4, 2007

The National Institutes of Health selected the Carolina Population Center (CPC) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to be the study center for the National Children’s Study in Rockingham County, NC.

The National Children’s Study (NCS) is an unprecedented effort to learn about and improve children’s health in the United States. The study, which the National Institutes of Health calls the largest of its kind ever conducted in the U.S., will measure the effects of environmental, social, biological and behavioral factors on child health. The goal is to understand causes for a range of health problems, including asthma, developmental delays, autism, and obesity. The study will collect information from families about their health, their activities, and their neighborhoods. Various biological samples, along with air and water at home and in schools will also be collected.

Funding from the National Institutes of Health supports the first five years of the study in Rockingham County, NC, with the planning phase beginning October 2007, and enrollment of participants scheduled to begin in 2009. CPC has already started work that will lead to the recruitment of women and families from Duplin County, NC, in the summer of 2008.

CPC will partner with researchers from Duke University, Battelle Memorial Institute and McMillan & Moss Research. Dr. Emmanuel Walter, associate professor of pediatrics at Duke, will lead outreach to the pediatric community. Charles Knott, director of Battelle Survey Operations in Durham, will oversee recruitment of study participants and interactions with the families. Allan Parnell, president of McMillan & Moss Research, will coordinate community outreach in Rockingham County.

The National Children’s Study team at UNC-CH is led by:
Principal Investigator: Dr. Barbara Entwisle, Kenan Professor, Department of Sociology, & Director, Carolina Population Center

Co-Principal Investigators:
Dr. Nancy Dole, Deputy Director, Carolina Population Center, & Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology 
email: nancy_dole@unc.edu, phone: 919-966-2821
Dr. Anna Maria Siega-Riz, Assoc. Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Nutrition, & Fellow, Carolina Population Center
email: am_siegariz@unc.edu, phone: 919-962-8410

Project Manager: Dr. Jill Fuller, Carolina Population Center
email: Jill_Fuller@unc.edu, phone: 919-966-3796

Additional resources about the new award and the National Children’s Study:

Press release distributed by UNC News Services:
“Rockingham County, UNC chosen to participate in National Children’s Study”
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct07/cpcnationalchildrensstudy100407.html

Press release distributed by National Institutes of Health:
“NIH announces addition of 22 new study centers in National Children’s Study”
http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/oct2007/nichd-04.htm

National Children’s Study website:
http://www.nationalchildrensstudy.gov