# Enhancement and Maintenance of the HEALS cohort

> **NIH NIH R24** · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · 2022 · $319,721

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Water and air pollutions are two sources of environmental exposures that lead to significant mortality and
morbidity across the world. Due to poorer infrastructure, inadequate regulatory enforcement and awareness,
the health burden of water and air pollution is disproportionately greater in developing countries, especially in
South Asia. This proposal addresses primarily these two environmental problems through targeted maintenance
and enrichment of our long-standing environmental epidemiology cohort “Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal
Study (HEALS)” which was initiated by Dr. Ahsan and his Bangladesh and US colleagues in 2000. Thus far, the
cohort has been mainly addressing research questions on the health effects of arsenic exposure from drinking
water. By maintaining the cohort infrastructure with longer follow-up and ascertainment of new health outcomes,
we will substantially enhance our ability to evaluate health effects of arsenic exposure. In addition, by extending
our exposure assessment scheme to add a comprehensive assessment of novel air pollution monitoring, coupled
with targeted biosample acquisition and outcome ascertainment, we will open new opportunities (to researchers
at large) for efficient investigation of health effects of air pollution by taking advantage of our unique cohort
infrastructure. Specifically, we propose to: i) refine our cohort maintenance activities by ascertaining air-pollution
related health outcomes through targeted enrichment of clinical outcome assessment infrastructure; ii) augment
the exposure characterization of the cohort by instituting air pollution exposure assessment infrastructure; and
iii) enrich our biorepository by initiating saliva sample collection for future investigation of the oral microbiome in
relation to environmental health effects. The HEALS resource has already been successfully used by a wide
cadre of researchers investigating the health effects of As, dietary and lifestyle exposures and, if funded, the
proposed enrichment and maintenance activities will open new doors for efficient investigation of the health
effects of air pollution, the underlying biology, and prevention avenues.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10453754
- **Project number:** 5R24ES028532-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Habibul Ahsan
- **Activity code:** R24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $319,721
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-30 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10453754

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10453754, Enhancement and Maintenance of the HEALS cohort (5R24ES028532-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10453754. Licensed CC0.

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