The University, in collaboration with Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, is successfully recruiting pregnant women for the Providence County chapter of the National Children's Study, the broadest longitudinal study on child development ever conducted in the U.S.
Melody Drnach, senior community engagement and outreach coordinator, called the collaboration an "amazing opportunity for Brown University to again be a leader in the country in terms of conducting a longitudinal study that improves the health and well-being of Rhode Islanders."
The study at Brown is led by Professor of Community Health Stephen Buka, Associate Professor of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Community Health Maureen Phipps and Associate Professor of Community Health Melissa Clark. Other doctors and scientists in the state sit on the Providence chapter's advisory board. "Our research team is truly integrated," Phipps said. "It's terrific."
The study will follow children from before birth until age 21, collecting data on the children's physical environment, family dynamics, neighborhood and genetics to "improve the health and well-being of children and contribute to understanding the role various factors have on health and disease," according to the study's website.
"Information we gain will have local relevance, but data we learn will help inform children's health for the nation and probably across the world," Phipps said.
Providence County is one of the 30 study hubs nationwide involved in the pilot phase of the project. The pilot program will test the feasibility of various recruitment methods before implementing them on a national scale. The study will eventually be conducted at 105 locations and involve 100,000 women and their children.
Brown is recruiting through prenatal care providers, obstetricians and gynecologists, and so far the team has seen an "extremely positive response," Phipps said. "All the prenatal care providers in Providence County are willing to work with us," she said. Recruitment in Providence County started Nov. 30. As of March 1, the team had recruited 35 women to the study, reported that day's Providence Journal. The ultimate goal is to recruit 1,000 women.
Drnach said her current role is to "work with community leaders to bring awareness to all communities across Providence County about the study. We want (women) to be aware of (the study)and think of us when they become pregnant."
John Logan, professor of sociology and an investigator for the study, said, "I think it's good for Brown to be recognized as a useful partner in a national project. It builds up the research capacity of the people here." Logan said his role in the research is to determine how to draw a sample of new mothers in Providence County "in a way that would really allow us eventually to understand the effects of neighborhood conditions on child development."
For a study this large, Phipps said she is looking into opportunities for students to help with research so that they can have "the best experience." Logan clarified that those involved will be graduate students, not undergraduates, due to the training and long-term commitment required. "It will be hard for undergrads to participate, but a lot of the issues that we learn about will make their way into the classroom," Logan said.
Due to the length of the project, the investigators said they were concerned that families moving or dropping out would affect successful data collection. "Really making this something that the communities want to sustain is going to be critical," Drnach said.
Logan said the goal is for families to take pride in contributing to the study. "The spirit of the project helps to keep people from dropping out," he said.
Buka and Phipps, the principal investigators, applied to the study in 2007 when the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development called for proposals. The partnership was awarded a five-year, $14.1 million contract in 2007, and the University pledged an additional $1 million. Women and Infants pledged $500,000 to the project. In October of 2008, the insitute awarded Brown another $12 million contract to expand the study.
While both Buka and Phipps had previous long-term research experience, Phipps said this study was "definitely a big undertaking."
Logan said Buka deserves a "great deal of credit" for organizing the project and involving Brown professors in so many facets of the research. He added, "What we all like is to do the science, but in order to do the science you have to do the project building."
