# Retention, Maintenance and Enhancement of the Communities Actively Researching Exposure Study (CARES)

> **NIH NIH R24** · UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY · 2020 · $375,824

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Manganese (Mn) plays an essential role in normal growth and development The Communities Actively
Researching Exposure Study (CARES) was built upon community-engaged research practices. Participants
reside in three communities with the nation's highest levels of ambient Mn: Marietta and East Liverpool, Ohio,
and Southeast Side Chicago, Illinois. The CARES cohort consists of over 600 children and their primary
caregiver, with two time-points (ages 7-9 years and ages 13-17 years) of extensive neurodevelopmental
outcomes, biomarkers of exposure, and home environmental measures. The CARES has been supported by
multiple NIEHS-funded grants and has been instrumental in the training of next generation community-
engaged environmental health scientists for over a decade. The cohort has been instrumental in the
development of a lab-on-a-chip sensor for blood metals assessment and is currently exploring the impact of
Mn on neuroanatomy, function, chemistry, and physiology through magnetic resonance imaging. Through this
project, the CARES research team will be able to conduct the following: Aim 1) Maintain the integrity of the
CARES cohort by implementing community-engaged research strategies to improve participant retention; Aim
2) Expand CARES to enhance characterization of critical windows of exposure across the lifespan, and assess
the role of caregiver, child, and community-level psychosocial factors on the etiology of toxicant-induced
neurodevelopmental deficits; and Aim 3) Maintain and enhance biorepository and data management
infrastructure and develop methods to implement data sharing. The CARES is the only cohort poised to
investigate ambient exposure to Mn and its relationship to brain function in both a pediatric and adolescent
population. The proposed cohort retention, enhancement, and maintenance plans will accelerate and sustain
the ability of the CARES cohort to investigate the impact of ambient Mn on neurodevelopmental outcomes,
inform federal polices related to ambient exposure to Mn, and serve as a valuable resource for environmental
health science trainees and scientists across the globe.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9820153
- **Project number:** 1R24ES030904-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
- **Principal Investigator:** Erin N Haynes
- **Activity code:** R24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $375,824
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-05-06 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9820153

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9820153, Retention, Maintenance and Enhancement of the Communities Actively Researching Exposure Study (CARES) (1R24ES030904-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9820153. Licensed CC0.

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