How reducing cooking smoke affects children's lung health

Child Lung Development Following a Cookstove Intervention: Evidence from GRAPHS

['FUNDING_R01'] · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · NIH-11505240

This project finds out if cutting household cooking smoke during pregnancy and the first year helps children's lungs grow stronger through age 13.

Quick facts

Phase['FUNDING_R01']
Study typeNih_funding
SexAll
SponsorCOLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES (nih funded)
Locations1 site (NEW YORK, UNITED STATES)
Trial IDNIH-11505240 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this research studies

Researchers will follow children and their mothers from the GRAPHS pregnancy cohort in Ghana to link measured household air pollution from pregnancy through age one with lung health up to age 13. They will use validated lung function tests, symptom tracking, and biological samples to study airway mucus-related genes that might make some children more sensitive to smoke. The team will compare children with lower and higher early-life smoke exposure to see long-term effects on lung growth and respiratory symptoms. Findings will be used to guide affordable ways to reduce harmful smoke exposure in homes.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Ideal candidates are children born to mothers who were in the GRAPHS cohort in Ghana or infants from similar communities exposed to household cooking smoke.

Not a fit: People without early-life exposure to household cooking smoke or adults whose lung disease began much later in life are unlikely to get direct benefit from this project.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this work could show that reducing household cooking smoke in pregnancy and infancy prevents long-term lung problems and points to cost-effective interventions.

How similar studies have performed: Previous cookstove and air-quality trials have reduced smoke exposure but produced mixed results on child lung outcomes, so this project builds on and extends prior work.

Where this research is happening

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.

View on NIH RePORTER →

Last reviewed 2026-05-15 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.