14/24 The Healthy Brain & Child Development National Consortium

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This Diversity Supplement will be nested in the Healthy Brain and Child Development National Consortium (HBCD-NC) study at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) site (U01DA055369 contact MPI: Bandoli). The overall goal of the parent grant is to develop a normative template of brain development in response to various exposures across the first ten years of life. To achieve this, NIH has selected UCSD and 25 other sites across the United States (US) to recruit and follow a diverse and representative cohort of 7,500 mother-infant pairs. As such, a cohort that is diverse and representative of the US population must also include immigrants and those of those of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) origins. There is currently no category on the US Census for those of MENA origins, as they are collapsed into the ‘White’ sample. Given that historically the US has prioritized refugee admissions from numerous MENA countries with a significant proportion being received in California, it is important to prepare for the expansion of MENA women who give birth in the US. Little is known with respect to MENA women’s behaviors and exposures during pregnancy, particularly with respect to substance use, or the pregnancy and birth outcomes of this population and how they compare to non-MENA populations. Future research of this small but growing population in the US will require researchers with expertise in maternal child health, underrepresented or marginalized populations, and cultural competency. The candidate for this Diversity Supplement has lived experience as a MENA refugee and is passionate about this work. Therefore, the overarching goals of this Diversity Supplement are to 1) explore MENA immigrant women’s maternal and infant health exposures, behaviors and outcomes, and 2) prepare Ms. Hamzai for a career studying the exposures and outcomes of MENA woman in birth cohorts. Ms. Hamzai will receive 1:1 training from PIs on the HBCD study with expertise in maternal-child health, marginalized populations, and perinatal substance use. She will participate and inform Working Groups pertaining to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Substance Use, Recruitment and Retention, and Perinatal Health. Importantly, she will have exposure to and networking opportunities with 25 successful site study teams around the US. Her research will synthesize the literature on exposures (e.g. substance use, displacement) among MENA populations, their engagement in research, and cultural considerations for exploring health-related topics (Aim 1), synthesizing the literature on MENA immigrant women’s maternal and birth outcomes (Aim 2), and analyzing available administrative cohort data of immigrant MENA mother-child pairs in California for both maternal and infant outcomes (Aim 3). This proposed training will bi-directionally benefit Ms. Hamzai and the HBCD study, as her research aims will inform the efforts of several working groups who are also focused on under-represented populations, and their expertise in design, recruitment and retention of under-represented populations will inform Ms. Hamzai’s research and career development.