Support during pregnancy to change infant DNA marks tied to child development
Official title: A prospective test of biological embedding within a randomized trial of a multicomponent perinatal intervention: DNA methylome change over infancy and relevance for child development
Funded at Columbia University Health Sciences · NIH-11396300 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will see whether giving a structured support program during pregnancy to people in low-income settings changes babies' DNA marks in infancy and links to early child development.
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 | March 12, 2024 |
| Project end | February 28, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $578,207 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HD111586-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11396300 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Pregnant people and their newborns from low-income communities who enroll in the Learning Clubs cluster randomized trial are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not pregnant, whose children are older than infancy, or who cannot attend the trial sites are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
If you join, you or your community will take part in the Learning Clubs program, a structured perinatal support intervention, or in the comparison group. Researchers will collect small, non-invasive blood samples from infants over the first months of life to measure DNA methylation patterns. Those biological measurements will be compared between groups and related to early developmental milestones to look for early markers of intervention impact. The goal is to find measurable, early signals that help explain and speed up how supportive care during pregnancy can benefit children.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the project could identify early, non-invasive DNA markers that show whether pregnancy support helps infant development, enabling faster refinement and targeting of perinatal programs.
How similar studies have gone: Animal experiments support DNA methylation as a mechanism for early-life effects and supportive perinatal programs have improved child outcomes, but randomized human trials linking DNA methylation changes to development are relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Columbia University Health Sciences
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Scorza Bianchotti, Pamela Lorraine — Columbia University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Scorza Bianchotti, Pamela Lorraine
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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.