How being born early may affect a child's future heart and metabolic health
Official title: Preterm Birth and Child Long-term Cardiometabolic Risk: Integrate Proteomics with Birth Cohort
Funded at Johns Hopkins University · NIH-11312587 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers are using blood samples and long-term health information from a mostly Black urban birth cohort to look for protein and metabolic signs that link preterm birth to higher risk of heart and metabolic problems in childhood and beyond.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Johns Hopkins University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Baltimore, United States) |
| Project start | September 24, 2001 |
| Project end | March 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $549,989 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HD041702-21 |
| Project ID | NIH-11312587 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people born preterm (under 37 weeks) or parents of children born preterm from the Boston Birth Cohort or similar urban, predominantly Black communities who can be followed over time or provide biological samples.
✕Less likely to help
People not born preterm or those seeking immediate treatment rather than long-term risk information are unlikely to benefit directly from this observational biomarker work.
What this research studies
If your child was born before 37 weeks, this project looks for biological signals in maternal and cord blood that might explain higher later risk of conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, or unhealthy cholesterol. The team will use proteomics and related lab tests on stored samples from the Boston Birth Cohort and combine those results with years of clinical follow-up. They follow around 3,500 mother-child pairs from birth into childhood and young adulthood, focusing on a mostly low-income, Black urban population. The goal is to find early markers that could point to prevention or closer monitoring for at-risk children.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could help identify children born preterm who are at higher risk earlier, allowing for targeted monitoring or preventive care.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies have linked preterm birth to later cardiometabolic risks and found metabolic differences, but combining large-scale proteomics with long-term birth-cohort follow-up is a newer approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Wang, Xiaobin — Johns Hopkins University
- Study coordinator: Wang, Xiaobin
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Screening and treatment of Chlamydia infection in pregnancy to help prevent preterm birth
This grant studies whether screening pregnant people for Chlamydia trachomatis and treating those who are positive can reduce the risk of preterm birth.
-
Xylitol to Prevent Periodontal Disease and Preterm Birth in Pregnancy and Early Childhood
A safe, inexpensive chewable gum approach using xylitol is tested to help pregnant people reduce gum disease and lower the chance of preterm birth and related child health problems.
-
Screening and treatment for Chlamydia infection to help prevent preterm birth
A study in pregnant people will test whether screening for Chlamydia trachomatis and treating it during pregnancy can reduce the risk of babies being born too early.
-
IL-9 Signaling and Immune-Driven Preterm Birth
This NIH grant supports training a physician-scientist to lead a new lab studying how immune signals, especially IL-9, affect preterm birth.
-
Predicting Preterm Birth with Longitudinal Multi-Omics Data
A new, patient-friendly approach uses time-aware omics data from pregnancy to better predict preterm birth and uncover underlying biology.
-
Skeletal health after preterm birth in adults
Researchers will study why people born prematurely have weaker bones and fractures, starting in infancy and following into adulthood.
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.