# Enriching the Rhode Island Child Health Study

> **NIH NIH R24** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $345,827

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The proposed project is an R24 infrastructure support grant responsive to RFA-ES-16-004, “Maintain and
Enrich Resource Infrastructure for Existing Environmental Epidemiology Cohorts.” We propose to
maintain and enrich resource infrastructure for the Rhode Island Children's Health Study (RICHS), a cohort
developed to examine the impact of the environment on newborn and early childhood health outcomes with a
novel focus on the mechanistic role of placenta molecular function. RICHS is a highly productive cohort
resource—data collection and analyses to date have resulted in over 40 peer-reviewed publications, and 3
research project grants since 2008 (R01MH094609, R01ES022223, R01ES025145); RICHS has also
served as a resource for the training and independent research development of 21 pre- and postdoctoral
students and junior faculty. Data and results from the cohort have contributed to the understanding of the
fundamental molecular biology of the placenta, the impact of environmental exposures on placental epigenetic
regulation, links between placental epigenetic variation in newborn growth and neurobehavioral outcomes, as
well as novel methods development. The RICHS cohort is comprised of 840 mother-offspring pairs from the
Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts region enrolled from a single, population-representative
medical center. RICHS offspring were studied in infancy, but maintenance funds are needed for longitudinal
follow-up. The proposed infrastructure support would facilitate future prospective, longitudinal assessments
within this extensively characterized prenatal cohort, including novel child health and disease outcomes,
postnatal environmental exposures, as well as novel and repeated measures of molecular mediators and
biomarkers during the critical window of susceptibility of childhood and early adolescence. The proposed
infrastructure support will also allow extensive resource-sharing of RICHS data with the larger scientific
community. The specific goals of this R24 are to: (1) recontact and reconsent all RICHS mother-child pairs to
allow for continued and expanded follow-up, (2) develop an innovative website for cohort maintenance and
cohort community building, (3) develop a web-based data collection system for ongoing data collection using
REDCap, (4) provide ongoing incentives for maintaining participant investment in RICHS, (5) collect medical
record, neurodevelopmental measures and biospecimens for future research studies, and (6) develop systems
for broad sharing of cohort data with the larger research community. Our study fits with NIEHS goals to identify
fundamental shared mechanisms, to consider the totality of human exposures, biological pathways, and
disease pathogenesis, to foster collaboration, and to inspire new cadre of environmental health scientists.
Ultimately, the proposed RICHS infrastructure support will maximize NIEHS investment in a unique
cohort resource to allow for further semin...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9965656
- **Project number:** 5R24ES028507-04
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Carmen Joseph Marsit
- **Activity code:** R24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $345,827
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-30 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9965656

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9965656, Enriching the Rhode Island Child Health Study (5R24ES028507-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9965656. Licensed CC0.

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