Traffic pollution and early birth risk
Official title: The Omics and Mixtures Integration on Traffic exposure and Preterm Birth (OMIT-PTB) Study
Funded at Emory University · NIH-11295463 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers will use blood, urine, and microbiome data to find biological signs that link prenatal traffic pollution to preterm birth in pregnant people, especially in African American communities.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Emory University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Atlanta, United States) |
| Project start | April 24, 2024 |
| Project end | February 28, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $658,903 |
| NIH project number | 5R01ES035738-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11295463 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are pregnant people—particularly those living in urban areas with traffic exposure and those from African American communities—willing to provide biological samples and pregnancy information.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not pregnant or whose preterm births are caused only by genetic or non-environmental medical factors may not directly benefit from this research.
What this research studies
This project will follow pregnant people and combine detailed estimates of traffic-related air pollution with multiple biological measures taken over time, including the maternal epigenome, metabolome, and microbiome. The team will examine mixtures of pollutants rather than single exposures and look for molecular patterns that connect exposures to preterm birth. The study enlarges sample size and improves exposure measurement to detect signals previous studies missed. The work focuses on communities with high exposure, such as African American populations, to better understand drivers of disparities in early birth.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help identify biological markers that predict pollution-linked preterm birth and point to prevention strategies for high-risk pregnant people.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies have linked traffic pollution to preterm birth and found promising single-omics signals, but integrating multiple omics layers with pollutant mixtures in larger longitudinal cohorts is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Emory University
Atlanta, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Liang, Donghai — Emory University
- Study coordinator: Liang, Donghai
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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.