How early experiences and parent sensitivity affect infant cellular aging
Official title: The impact of stress and caregiver sensitivity on infant cellular aging in a population of under-resourced families: A randomized controlled trial.
Funded at University of Washington · NIH-11362274 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will see if a home-visiting program that boosts caregiver sensitivity can protect infants under one year from early cellular aging.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Washington NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Seattle, United States) |
| Project start | June 14, 2024 |
| Project end | March 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $514,902 |
| NIH project number | 5R01NR021020-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11362274 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Parents or primary caregivers of infants under 12 months receiving pediatric care at WakeMed, especially families from under-resourced backgrounds, are the intended participants.
✕Less likely to help
Infants older than one year, families who do not receive the home-visiting intervention, or those living outside the WakeMed service area would not directly receive the program benefits.
What this research studies
If you join, you and your baby would be randomly assigned to receive Promoting First Relationships® home visits or usual care. Trained providers will coach parents to be more responsive and collect small biological samples from infants to measure telomere length and epigenetic age. The team plans to enroll about 250 families through WakeMed pediatric clinics and follow infants during their first year. The goal is to learn whether strengthening parent–infant interactions can reduce early biological signs of aging.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could show that parent-support home visits slow cellular aging in infants and potentially reduce risk for later health problems.
How similar studies have gone: Previous home-visiting programs have improved parent sensitivity and child outcomes, but few randomized trials have measured effects on infant telomere length or epigenetic aging, so this application is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Washington
Seattle, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Oxford, Monica L — University of Washington
- Study coordinator: Oxford, Monica L
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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.