Maintaining and Expanding the CHAMACOS Epidemiology Cohort Infrastructure for Future Generations

摘要 自1999年成立以来，CHAMACOS研究是运行时间最长的队列研究之一 早期生活环境暴露对神经发育、生长和呼吸系统疾病的影响 唯一的一次关注的是农场工人人口中的低收入拉丁裔儿童。我们收集了大量的 健康、暴露、人口、邻里和地区数据，以及生物学数据(如血液、尿液、 母乳、头发、唾液、乳牙)和环境(如粉尘、过敏原)样本 已经创建了一个大型生物储存库，存储了30多万个样本以备将来使用。我们已经使用了 保存标本和存档数据，以证明出生前和出生后接触 杀虫剂、阻燃剂和其他神经发育较差、肺功能降低的化学品， 肥胖和其他后果。我们已经证明，环境暴露会影响许多分子。 影响健康的机制，如PON1酶活性、脂肪因子和异前列腺素水平、DNA 甲基化和miRNA表达。CHAMACOS资源支持多个NIH、EPA和非 联邦拨款和受训人员，包括与其他机构的合作。拥有超过150种出版物， CHAMACOS是一个成功和久负盛名的环境流行病学队列。 母基金(R24ES028529)的主要目标是维护和改善基础设施 管理这个庞大的数据宝库所需的实验室设施，以确保数百个 数以千计的样本，以及保持家庭参与和参与这项长期研究的努力。 然而，公共卫生学院(SPH)生物库和儿童环境健康实验室， 生物和环境标本的馆藏经历了意想不到的资金短缺 今年。这一行政补充的目的是为SPH提供额外的关键资金。 生物储存库。补充资金将用于确保早期研究人员Karen博士的职位 Huen说，他已经在CHAMACOS的研究中工作了很多年。Huen博士广博的技能和 在儿童环境健康实验室和SPH生物库的经验对于 生物库的寿命及其支持的研究。作为一种环境和分子 流行病学家Huen博士发表了大量关于PON1功能基因组学和关系的文章 CHAMACOS儿童的环境暴露与表观遗传学特征的关系。在这份增刊中，她将 支持母公司赠款的主要目标，以维持SPH生物库的重要功能。她会的 继续培训学生、研究人员和新教职员工使用无价资源的基本技能 保存在生物库的标本从分子分析的开发和验证到统计 复杂数据集的分析。此外，确保她的职位将使我们能够支持她的职业发展 因为她继续追求独立的研究道路，并在未来申请NIH的额外资金。

ABSTRACT Since its inception in 1999, the CHAMACOS study is one of the longest running cohort studies examining the impact of early life environmental exposures on neurodevelopment, growth, and respiratory disease and the only one focused on low-income, Latino children in a farmworker population. We have collected extensive health, exposure, demographic, neighborhood, and regional data, as well as biological (e.g. blood, urine, breastmilk, hair, saliva, deciduous teeth) and environmental (e.g. dust, allergens) samples at multiple visits and have created a large biorepository with more than 300,000 samples stored for future use. We have used banked specimens and archived data to demonstrate relationships of pre- and postnatal exposures to pesticides, flame retardants, and other chemicals with poorer neurodevelopment, reduced lung function, obesity, and other outcomes. We have shown that environmental exposures affect a multitude of molecular mechanisms that influence health, such as PON1 enzymatic activity, adipokine and isoprostane levels, DNA methylation and miRNA expression. The CHAMACOS resources have supported multiple NIH, EPA, and non- federal grants and trainees, including collaborations with other institutions. With well over 150 publications, CHAMACOS is a successful and well-established environmental epidemiology cohort. The main goals of the parent grant (R24ES028529) were to maintain and improve the infrastructure required for management of this vast trove of data, the laboratory facilities to ensure the safety of hundreds of thousands of samples, and the effort to keep families engaged and participating in this long-running study. However, the School of Public Health (SPH) Biorepository and Children’s Environmental Health Laboratory, which house the biological and environmental specimens has experienced an unexpected shortfall of funding this year. The purpose of this administrative supplement is to provide additional critical funding to the SPH Biorepository. Supplement funds will be used to secure the position of early stage investigator, Dr. Karen Huen, who has been working with the CHAMACOS study for many years. Dr. Huen’s extensive skills and experience at the Children’s Environmental Health Laboratory and SPH Biorepository are crucial for the longevity of the Biorepository and the research that it supports. As an environmental and molecular epidemiologist, Dr. Huen has published extensively on the functional genomics of PON1 and on relationships of environmental exposures with epigenetic profiles in CHAMACOS children. For this supplement, she will support the main goals of the parent grant to maintain the vital functions of the SPH Biorepository. She will continue to train students, researchers, and new faculty members on essential skills for utilizing the invaluable specimens stored at the Biorepository from development and validation of molecular assays to statistical analysis of complex datasets. Further, securing her position will enable us to support her career development as she continues to pursue independent research paths and applies for additional NIH funding in the future.