# Prenatal Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke, COVID-19- Related Psychosocial Stress, and Neurodevelopment.

> **NIH NIH K23** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2021 · $110,000

## Abstract

Prenatal chemical and childhood social exposures have compounding effects on children’s attention problems.
To date, research on the etiology of attention problems has focused largely on endogenous, internal factors
such as genetics, with little attention paid to the contribution of exogenous, environmental factors, such as
neurotoxic exposures. In the parent award we detected significant associations between prenatal ETS
exposure and the structure and function of children’s frontostriatal circuitry. Further, associations between
prenatal ETS exposure and attention problems were mediated by changes in frontostriatal structure. These
findings derive from the research and training program proposed in a Career Development Award that has
supported the applicant towards becoming an NIH-funded independent investigator. This supplement funding
will allow the Principal Investigator to study if COVID-19-related psychosocial stressors or acute stress
symptoms magnify the effects of prenatal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on children’s brain
function and attention. The data acquired with this supplemental funding will test the hypothesis that higher
levels of COVID-19 pandemic-related psychosocial stressors or acute stress symptoms will amplify previously
detected effects of prenatal ETS exposure on the structure and function of frontostriatal circuitry and attention
problems that are subserved by this circuit. Through this Career Development Award, Dr. Margolis has
developed expertise in using neuroimaging to study of the effects of neurotoxic environmental exposures on
brain development and the manifestation of learning and attention problems. The current supplement to the
parent award will allow Dr. Margolis to further develop her skills through acquiring and analyzing longitudinal
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. In addition, this funding will support her in analyzing data
from the new Environmental influences on Children’s Health Outcomes (ECHO) COVID-19 Acute Stress
Questionnaire, which she co-authored. She will disseminate these methods for scoring and interpreting the
Acute Stress questions in her role as Co-chair of the ECHO neurodevelopment working group.
RELEVANCE: The current research will allow us to determine if pandemic-related psychosocial stressors and
acute stress symptoms increase the behavioral and neurobiological effects of ETS. Such information may
allow practitioners to treat attention problems through addressing acute stress symptoms and other pandemic-
related psychosocial stressors (school and family factors). This approach may also generate data for public
health messaging to mental health and pediatrics practitioners to consider the broad effects of increased stress
and stressors on a range of other mental health problems during future pandemics.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10282859
- **Project number:** 3K23ES026239-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** AMY MARGOLIS
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $110,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-02-24 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10282859

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10282859, Prenatal Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke, COVID-19- Related Psychosocial Stress, and Neurodevelopment. (3K23ES026239-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-29 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10282859. Licensed CC0.

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