Maintaining and Expanding the CHAMACOS Epidemiology Cohort Infrastructure for Future Generations

摘要 自1999年成立以来，CHAMACOS研究是最长的队列研究之一， 生命早期环境暴露对神经发育、生长和呼吸系统疾病的影响， 唯一一个关注农场工人中的低收入拉丁裔儿童。我们收集了大量 健康、暴露、人口统计、邻近和区域数据，以及生物（例如，血液，尿液， 多次访视时的母乳、毛发、唾液、乳牙）和环境（如灰尘、过敏原）样本， 已经建立了一个大型生物储存库，储存了30多万个样本供未来使用。我们已经使用 库存样本和存档数据，以证明产前和产后暴露与 杀虫剂、阻燃剂和其他化学物质会导致神经发育不良、肺功能下降， 肥胖和其他结果。我们已经证明，环境暴露会影响多种分子 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 联邦赠款和受训人员，包括与其他机构的合作。出版物超过150种， CHAMACOS是一个成功和完善的环境流行病学队列。 母公司补助金（R24ES 028529）的主要目标是维护和改善基础设施 为了管理这一巨大的数据宝库，实验室设施，以确保安全的数百个 成千上万的样本，并努力让家庭参与并参与这项长期的研究。 然而，公共卫生学院（SPH）生物储存和儿童环境卫生实验室， 存放生物和环境标本的实验室遭遇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 生物储藏库。补充资金将用于确保早期研究员Karen博士的职位 Huen博士多年来一直从事CHAMACOS研究。Huen博士的广泛技能和 在儿童环境卫生实验室和SPH生物储存库的经验是至关重要的， 生物储存库的寿命及其支持的研究。作为环境和分子 作为流行病学家，Huen博士发表了大量关于PON1功能基因组学和PON1与 CHAMACOS儿童的环境暴露与表观遗传特征。对于这一补充，她将 支持母基金的主要目标，以维持SPH生物储存库的重要功能。她将 继续培训学生，研究人员和新的教师的基本技能，利用宝贵的 从分子测定的开发和验证到统计分析， 分析复杂的数据集。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，并在未来申请额外的NIH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.