New statistical tools to find biological pathways linking environment and child development
Statistical methods for analysis of high-dimensional mediation pathways
This project builds data-analysis tools to find biological markers that explain how environmental exposures and stress affect children’s growth and health.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Michigan at Ann Arbor NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Ann Arbor, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11299475 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers will create new statistical methods, algorithms, and software to analyze large sets of biological measurements (like metabolites and DNA markers) from children and adolescents. The tools are designed to identify groups of biological signals that act as pathways connecting things like pollution or socioeconomic stress to outcomes such as adolescent obesity, learning, and puberty timing. The team will develop ways to cluster related markers, estimate their roles without bias, and control false positives so findings are reliable. These methods will be applied to child health data to highlight potential biological mechanisms behind observed health changes.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Children and adolescents (from infancy through age 20) who are part of pediatric research cohorts or who can provide biological samples and exposure information would be the most relevant participants.
Not a fit: Adults outside the child/adolescent age range or people not enrolled in the relevant cohorts or unable to provide biological samples are unlikely to directly benefit from this specific project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal biological markers and pathways that point to new prevention or treatment strategies for adolescent obesity, cognitive problems, and altered sexual maturation.
How similar studies have performed: Some previous studies have linked omics markers to child health outcomes, but this project is novel in jointly analyzing many potential mediators with stronger error control and pathway clustering.
Where this research is happening
Ann Arbor, United States
- University of Michigan at Ann Arbor — Ann Arbor, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Song, Peter Xuekun — University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
- Study coordinator: Song, Peter Xuekun
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.