# Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes in Puerto Rico (ECHO-PRO)

> **NIH NIH UH3** · NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $122,181

## Abstract

Project Summary (UH3)
The Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes in Puerto Rico (ECHO‐PRO) project leverages
an active birth cohort in Puerto Rico (PROTECT cohort) that has initiated child follow‐up (CRECE cohort)
to better understand environmental exposures and their effects on birth outcomes and children's health
in Puerto Rico – an underserved, highly exposed population. “Puerto Rico Testsite for Exploring
Contamination Threats (PROTECT)” is an NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) cohort that started
recruiting in 2011 and will continue through 2019 (P42ES017198). PROTECT tests the hypothesis that
exposure to phthalates and chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) contributes to the
unusually high rate of preterm birth (<37 weeks gestation) in Puerto Rico. The “Center for Research on
Early Childhood Exposure and Development in Puerto Rico (CRECE),” a Children's Environmental Health
Center (CEHC), awarded jointly by NIEHS and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2015
(P50ES026049), follows up on children born in the PROTECT cohort. CRECE is studying the impact of
exposures to particulate matter and phenols and modifying factors on physical, reproductive and
neurodevelopment among children in northern Puerto Rico. ECHO‐PRO will leverage the
PROTECT/CRECE cohort (570 children at birth) and infrastructure, and recruit an additional 1100
pregnant women (100 in the UG3 and 1000 in the UH3) and their children (estimated N=990 at birth)
collecting ECHO‐Wide approved elements for follow‐up assessments, repeated information on their
environmental exposures, biomarkers of intermediate effect, and respiratory, physical, reproductive,
and brain development.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10176882
- **Project number:** 3UH3OD023251-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Akram N Alshawabkeh
- **Activity code:** UH3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $122,181
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2016-09-21 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10176882

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10176882, Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes in Puerto Rico (ECHO-PRO) (3UH3OD023251-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10176882. Licensed CC0.

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