Papers / Grants / Projects
PIN Study Preterm births–those deliveries before 37 weeks gestation–are one of the major contributors to perinatal morbidity and mortality in the United States. This study’s primary goal is to identify etiologic factors for preterm delivery, including preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PROM), delivery due to early onset of labor, and related complications of pregnancy, so that public health measures can be taken to reduce this adverse pregnancy outcome and its associated health, social, and economic costs. The project has had four major phases of data collection during the prenatal period, referred to as PIN1, PIN2, PIN3, and PIN3plus. Recruitment is currently underway into the PIN3 and PIN3plus protocols. A Postpartum component recontacts women and their babies at 3 months and 12 months postpartum.
The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) is a nationally representative study that explores the causes of health-related behaviors of adolescents in grades 7 through 12 and their outcomes in young adulthood. Add Health seeks to examine how social contexts (families, friends, peers, schools, neighborhoods, and communities) influence adolescents’ health and risk behaviors. Initiated in 1994 under a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) with co-funding from 17 other federal agencies, Add Health is the largest, most comprehensive survey of adolescents ever undertaken. Data at the individual, family, school, and community levels were collected in two waves between 1994 and 1996. In 2001 and 2002, Add Health respondents, 18 to 26 years old, were re-interviewed in a third wave to investigate the influence that adolescence has on young adulthood. Multiple datasets are available for study, and more than 1,000 published reports and journal articles have used the data to analyze aspects of these complex issues. Add Health investigators hope this research will enable policy makers, researchers, health-care providers, and educators to better understand how to protect the health of young people in the US.
The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC), is a prospective epidemiologic study conducted in four U.S. communities. ARIC is designed to investigate the etiology and natural history of atherosclerosis, the etiology of clinical atherosclerotic diseases, and variation in cardiovascular risk factors, medical care and disease by race, gender, location, and date. ARIC includes two parts: the Cohort Component and the Community Surveillance Component. The Cohort Component began in 1987, and each ARIC field center randomly selected and recruited a cohort sample of approximately 4,000 individuals aged 45-64 from a defined population in their community. A total of 15,792 participants received an extensive examination, including medical, social, and demographic data. These participants were reexamined every three years with the first screen (baseline) occurring in 1987-89, the second in 1990-92, the third in 1993-95, and the fourth and last exam was in 1996-98. Follow-up occurs yearly by telephone to maintain contact with participants and to assess health status of the cohort.
Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) is a medical research study involving more than 6,000 men and women from six communities in the United States. MESA is sponsored by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. Participants in MESA are seen at clinics in the following universities: Columbia University, New York Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore Northwestern University, Chicago UCLA, Los Angeles University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Wake Forest University, Winston Salem Pitt County Study.