How early-life environmental exposures affect aging in children and adolescents
Official title: Early-life environmental exposure mixtures and biological age acceleration in children and adolescents: susceptibility, potential interactions and underlying mechanisms
Funded at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai · NIH-11047757 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This study is looking at how being around certain chemicals during pregnancy and early childhood might affect how kids age biologically, and it’s for families who want to understand how things like diet and weight can play a role in their children's health as they grow up.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project start | March 5, 2024 |
| Project end | December 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $588,000 |
| NIH project number | 5R01ES035773-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11047757 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates for this research include children and adolescents who have been exposed to environmental pollutants or have dietary and obesity-related concerns.
✕Less likely to help
Patients who are not children or adolescents, or those without any exposure to the environmental factors being studied, may not benefit from this research.
What this research studies
This research investigates how exposure to environmental factors, particularly endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), during pregnancy and early life can influence biological aging in children and adolescents. It aims to understand the interactions between these exposures and other factors like diet and obesity that may affect telomere length, a marker of biological aging. By following participants over time, the study will explore how these factors contribute to health outcomes as children grow. The research employs advanced multi-omics techniques to analyze biological data and identify potential mechanisms behind these effects.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this research could lead to improved understanding of how environmental factors influence aging and chronic disease risk in children, potentially guiding public health interventions.
How similar studies have gone: While the specific combination of factors being studied is novel, previous research has shown that environmental exposures can significantly impact health outcomes, suggesting potential for success in this area.
Where this research is happening
-
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Valvi, Damaskini — Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Study coordinator: Valvi, Damaskini
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Prenatal and early-life chemical exposures linked to faster cellular aging in children and adolescents
Researchers will look at whether prenatal and early-life mixtures of chemicals and factors like diet and obesity speed up cellular aging in children and teens.
-
Heart organoids reveal how environmental chemicals affect heart function
A small research project uses lab-grown human heart tissue to study how environmental chemicals may change heart biology and function, aiming to identify early signs of heart problems.
-
Environmental exposures and inflammation in blood stem cells
Many people exposed to pollution and environmental disasters may develop blood disorders due to inflammation and DNA changes in blood stem cells.
-
Multimethod detection of brain micro- and nanoplastics in Alzheimer’s disease
Researchers will look for tiny plastic particles in human brains and see how they relate to Alzheimer’s disease and neighborhood-level environmental risk.
-
ECHO Measurement Core: Tools to track environmental exposures and child health
A large NIH project at Northwestern builds better, culturally sensitive measurements to understand how early environmental exposures affect child health and development.
-
S3E: A kid-friendly game to learn about indoor environmental health
A mobile game helps middle-schoolers learn about everyday indoor environmental exposures and how to reduce health risks like asthma and lead poisoning.
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.