How childhood schools and local infections shape adult health and lifespan
The effect of childhood environments on adult health and mortality
This project links where people grew up — including school quality and local infectious disease exposure — to their health and lifespan as adults, with a focus on Black and White Americans.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of Maryland, College Park NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (College Park, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11178356 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers will build a new dataset that connects detailed childhood locations and school information to adult health and death records for large samples of Black and White U.S. residents. They will combine school-level measures and local infectious-disease data with individual life histories to trace long-term outcomes. The team will apply causal analysis methods to try to separate the effects of school quality and childhood infectious environments on adult mortality. The goal is to identify childhood conditions that local policies could change to improve health later in life.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are people born and raised in the United States whose childhood location and school records can be linked to later-life health or death records, especially Black and White adults.
Not a fit: People whose childhood locations or records cannot be linked, non-U.S. residents, or racial/ethnic groups not included in the analyzed samples may not directly benefit from this project's findings.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to childhood policies—such as improving schools or reducing local infectious exposures—that help people live healthier, longer lives.
How similar studies have performed: Prior studies have found associations between early-life conditions and adult health, but strong causal evidence is limited and this granular, linked-data approach is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
College Park, United States
- Univ of Maryland, College Park — College Park, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Yue, Dahai — Univ of Maryland, College Park
- Study coordinator: Yue, Dahai
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.