Stress and air pollution: how early life exposures shape teen obesity and mood
Official title: Stress-Air Pollution Interactions and Adolescent Neurobehavior
Funded at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai · NIH-11553887 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Early-life air pollution and stress may influence how the brain develops to control eating and mood, potentially leading to obesity and affective symptoms in adolescence.
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 | January 15, 2007 |
| Project end | May 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $87,691 |
| NIH project number | 3R01ES013744-19S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11553887 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are individuals in the PROGRESS cohort or similar longitudinal birth cohorts with perinatal exposure data and adolescent follow-up.
✕Less likely to help
Results may have limited immediate impact for individuals without access to long-term cohort data or without exposure histories.
What this research studies
This project follows children in a Mexico City cohort from birth to adolescence to see how perinatal air pollution and stress relate to later obesity and problems with self-control and mood. It uses long-term exposure data and new statistical methods to identify when during development children are most susceptible. By linking environmental factors with eating behaviors and cognitive traits over time, the study aims to map pathways from early exposure to adolescent health outcomes. The work is grounded in real-world observations from PROGRESS, a longitudinal cohort that collects environmental, health, and behavioral data.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, findings could inform strategies to reduce obesity and mood problems by targeting prenatal and early-life environmental exposures.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research links early exposure to obesity and mood issues, but this study emphasizes a longitudinal, causal pathway framework that is still developing.
Where this research is happening
-
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Wright, Robert O — Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Study coordinator: Wright, Robert O
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.