LEAD Center Awarded Two NIH UG3/UH3 Grants

The Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity and Diabetes (LEAD) Center has been awarded two NIH UG3/UH3 grants as participating cohort sites in the national ECHO consortium, which aims to understand the effects of a wide range of environmental exposures on child health and development. The award period is 2023-2030.

Early Life Determinants of Child Health: A New Denver-Based Cohort (MPIs: D. Dabelea, B. Moore, A. Starling) will recruit and follow a diverse group of 810 pregnant people in Colorado, their conceiving partners, and their offspring. Our research will leverage the resources and infrastructure of the LEAD Center and ECHO Program to inform policies and programs aimed at reducing adverse environmental exposures in early life and promoting data-driven interventions to improve child health. Locally, this grant leverages strong collaborative ties between investigators on the Anschutz Medical Campus (LEAD Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology), as well as investigators at Denver Health, Colorado State University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes – The Colorado ECHO Pediatric Cohort (MPIs: D. Dabelea, T. Bekelman, W. Perng) is a continuation of work to characterize the early life underpinnings of growth, adiposity, cardiometabolic traits, and unfavorable neurodevelopmental outcomes. Up to 850 children in Colorado who have been part of the Healthy Start pre-birth cohort for over a decade will be followed annually from ages 11 to 19 years. Along with data from up to 50,000 children across the US participating in the ECHO consortium, this study will identify the early life exposures that shape risk of leading chronic diseases, potentially modifiable biological mechanisms, and opportunities for preventive action. Locally, this grant is the result of longstanding partnerships between Anschutz Medical Campus investigators in the Departments of Pediatrics/School of Medicine and Epidemiology/Colorado School of Public Health, via the LEAD Center.