How early-life metal exposure may shape children's sleep through tiny blood particles
Official title: Metal Mixtures, MicroRNAs and Metabolomics in Extracellular Vesicles, and Early-life Programming of Childhood Sleep Patterns: A Longitudinal Study
Funded at Columbia University Health Sciences · NIH-11378304 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether metal exposure before and after birth changes sleep patterns in children by altering tiny particles in the blood.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Columbia University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project start | June 21, 2024 |
| Project end | April 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $686,324 |
| NIH project number | 5R01ES035478-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11378304 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are children enrolled in the PROGRESS Mexico City birth cohort who have banked baby teeth and blood samples and who have prior or planned actigraphy sleep data from ages 4–12.
✕Less likely to help
Children or adults who were not part of the PROGRESS cohort, who lack stored teeth or blood samples, or who cannot provide sleep-monitoring data are unlikely to be eligible or directly benefit.
What this research studies
Researchers will use the PROGRESS birth cohort from Mexico City, which includes banked baby teeth and blood samples and repeated sleep measurements from ages 4–12. They will map metal exposures week-by-week from the second trimester through the first year after birth by analyzing growth layers in teeth, and track sleep using wearable actigraphy at multiple childhood ages. The team will isolate extracellular vesicles (tiny particles in the blood) and profile their microRNAs and metabolites to identify molecular signals that might link metal mixtures to sleep problems. Combining precise exposure timing, objective sleep tracking, and molecular profiling aims to reveal when and how early exposures can affect sleep during childhood.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify specific early-life exposures and molecular markers that help prevent or better manage childhood sleep problems.
How similar studies have gone: Animal studies have linked neurotoxic metals to sleep disruption, but human evidence is limited and the teeth-based exposure timing plus extracellular vesicle molecular profiling approach is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
Columbia University Health Sciences
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kupsco, Allison — Columbia University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Kupsco, Allison
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Newborn screening: using gene and metabolite data to refine true vs false positives
A study using genetic and metabolomic data from newborn blood spots to better distinguish real metabolic disorders from false alarms.
-
IDEAL: How early-life immune development shapes vaccine responses and asthma risk
A child-focused project that looks at how the developing immune system in early life affects vaccine responses, respiratory infections, and asthma.
-
Integrative metabolomics to improve sarcoidosis diagnosis and prognosis
A research project from UCLA aims to find blood-based biomarkers that help diagnose sarcoidosis earlier and predict how it will progress, especially in African American women.
-
Metabolomics clues to how ultra-processed foods affect risk of type 2 diabetes
A scientist-led study will look at how eating different ultra-processed foods may change diabetes risk by using a controlled feeding trial and big population data, focusing on adults.
-
Longitudinal metabolomics in infants with food allergies
A study in infants aims to understand how gut metabolites relate to the development of food allergies, including IgE-mediated and non-IgE cases.
-
Biospecimen, Metabolomics, and Pathology Core for Endometrial Cancer Research
A national, multi-institutional resource collects and analyzes tissue, blood, and metabolites from endometrial cancer patients to support multiple research projects.
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.