# Environment, Epigenetics, Neurodevelopment & Health of Extremely Preterm Children

> **NIH NIH UH3** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2021 · $72,341

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The goal of the ECHO Consortium is to identify exposures and mechanisms that link the environment in early
life to childhood development and health outcomes. This proposal commits to the ECHO Consortium
numerous resources from the Extremely Low Gestation Age Newborn (ELGAN) Study. Since its initiation in
2001, the broad goal of the ELGAN Study is to evaluate the relationship between perinatal inflammation and
neurodevelopmental impairments among individuals born extremely premature (i.e., before 28 weeks of
gestation). In the proposed project we will build on the success of the ELGAN Study by adding new information
about: 1) environment exposures, 2) neurodevelopmental outcomes of study participants at 15 and 18 years of
age, and 3) placental epigenetic variation, a mechanism that could link inflammation early in life to
neurodevelopmental impairments.
In the first two years of the project (the UG3 phase) investigators from the ELGAN team will participate in the
design of studies that can be implemented across the ECHO Consortium and in efforts to harmonize data
across cohorts comprising the consortium. In the second year of the proposal, we will begin to evaluate
members of the ELGAN cohort, as they reach 15 years of age, using standardized neurodevelopmental
assessments and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We also will complete preliminary studies of
relationships between prenatal environmental exposures, early life inflammation, and neurodevelopmental
impairments, using extant data from the ELGAN cohort. In addition, we will complete analysis of epigenetic
markers in placenta specimens collected around the time of the births of ELGAN Study participants. These
data will be utilized in the last 5 years of the proposed project (the UH3 phase).
If pre-specified milestones are met, the project will transition into the UH3 phase. Standardized
neurodevelopmental assessments and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will be completed as study
participants reach 15 years. As participants reach 18 years of age neurodevelopmental assessments will again
be completed. At the assessment at 18 years we will obtain blood for study of epigenetic markers of activation
of innate immunity, which we can then relate to our extant data about systemic inflammation early in life.
Specific aims in the UH3 phase of the project are examine relationships between biomarkers of early life
inflammation (extant data on neonatal systemic inflammation and new data on placenta epigenetics) and
neurodevelopmental impairments through age 18 years. The over-arching hypothesis to be addressed is that
prenatal exposures can initiate early life inflammation, thus increasing the risk of neurodevelopmental
impairments. Innovative aspects of this project include its longitudinal perspective, consideration of placenta
epigenetics as a mechanism linking prenatal exposures to childhood outcomes, and evaluation of a wide range
of neurodevelopmental outcome. T...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10475951
- **Project number:** 3UH3OD023348-06S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Rebecca Fry
- **Activity code:** UH3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $72,341
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2016-09-21 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10475951

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10475951, Environment, Epigenetics, Neurodevelopment & Health of Extremely Preterm Children (3UH3OD023348-06S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10475951. Licensed CC0.

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