Early-life environmental exposures and lifelong health in rural New Hampshire children
A prospective study of critical environmental exposures in formative early life that impact lifelong health in rural US children: the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study
This project follows pregnant people and their children in rural New Hampshire to learn how home, water, air, and other early-life exposures relate to children's health over time.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Dartmouth College NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Hanover, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11319109 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you join, the team will enroll pregnant participants and then follow their children through childhood, collecting health information and samples over many years. They collect biospecimens such as urine, hair, blood, and baby teeth and enter data into a shared ECHO database so findings can be combined with other cohorts. The site works with a central IRB and standardized protocols, and contributes samples to large ECHO-wide lab analyses including genetic studies. Participation includes periodic clinic visits or home/sample collections and long-term health follow-up for your child.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are pregnant people and their children living in the New Hampshire/Dartmouth catchment area who are willing to provide samples and take part in long-term follow-up.
Not a fit: People who are not pregnant, who live outside the study area, or who are unwilling to provide samples or follow-up data are unlikely to benefit from participating.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Results could help identify environmental factors that affect child health and inform ways to prevent or reduce harm from those exposures.
How similar studies have performed: Large birth-cohort efforts and the ECHO consortium have previously linked early-life exposures to health outcomes, and this cohort builds on that successful work.
Where this research is happening
Hanover, United States
- Dartmouth College — Hanover, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Karagas, Margaret Rita — Dartmouth College
- Study coordinator: Karagas, Margaret Rita
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.