# A South Carolina ECHO Pregnancy Cohort

> **NIH NIH UG3** · MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA · 2024 · $1,701,355

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Animal and epidemiological studies show that prenatal experiences (e.g., elevated environmental pollutants,
pregnancy complications, preterm birth, stress) support the ‘developmental origins of health and disease’
model in relating adverse maternal experiences to compromised fetal and child development. Hypotheses
suggest that the developmental window of plasticity for obesity programming initiates in utero and extends
through the first two years of life, underscoring the large impact that gestational and early life exposures and
corresponding targeted interventions may have on lifetime obesity risk. Current obesity interventions may be
ineffective because they target children or adults past the critical age when developmental programming
occurs. The ECHO pregnancy cohort has the potential to address this critical gap in knowledge. Moreover,
because previous research has often been conducted in urban areas, rural communities are often
understudied. Hence, as a rural state with poor birth outcomes, South Carolina’s population is historically
understudied and our contribution to ECHO will have a major impact. Therefore, we will recruit over 500
pregnant women and their resulting offspring into ECHO from the Medical University of South Carolina
(MUSC) and implement the ECHO-wide protocol including specialized components on Physical & Chemical
exposures and child Obesity outcomes. MUSC has a large obstetrical/delivery population (i.e., over 3,000
annually) that facilitates meeting our recruitment goals. Our aims pertaining to ECHO-wide analyses are (1) to
determine the joint impact of prenatal exposure to chemical mixtures and early gestational and life exposures
(i.e., hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, preterm birth) on child obesity and metabolic health; (2) to identify
differences in prenatal chemical exposures and their sources (dietary choices/opportunities, use of consumer
goods and personal care products, occupation, air/water) among ECHO cohort participants; and (3) to
determine the association of mixtures of pre-conceptual and peri-conceptual chemical exposures measured in
mothers and fathers with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, preterm birth, and child obesity. In summary,
our proposed aims are innovative because they address: (1) the impact of joint exposure to chemical and nonchemical stressors; (2) potential rural-urban differences in sources of chemical exposure and resulting complex
chemical mixtures; and (3) determining critical windows of exposure to complex chemical mixtures.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10907765
- **Project number:** 5UG3OD035543-02
- **Recipient organization:** MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
- **Principal Investigator:** KELLY J HUNT
- **Activity code:** UG3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,701,355
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10907765

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10907765, A South Carolina ECHO Pregnancy Cohort (5UG3OD035543-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10907765. Licensed CC0.

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