Overview
Bruce P. Lanphear, MD, MPH, bruce.lanphear@chmcc.org.
Project 1 | Project 2 | Project 3 | Project 4 | Project 5
The Children's Environmental Health Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center studies neurobehavioral effects of prevalent toxicants. This requires an interdisciplinary organization with each component contributing to the overall goal. All of the five research projects in the Center focus on the linkage of exposures to prevalent environmental toxicants with neurobehavioral outcomes. The five research projects in the Center will:
- Identify and define causes of developmental disorders, behavioral problems, growth retardation and hearing loss due to environmental toxicants
- Develop and validate biomarkers for in utero exposures and environmental monitoring methods for exposure and risk characterization
- Use rigorous epidemiologic methods to test the safety and efficacy of interventions to reduce exposures to prevalent environmental toxicants
- Identify adverse effects of lead exposure on social functions, delinquent behaviors and incarceration, conduct disorders, and features consistent with ADHD in early adulthood
- Assist community members to identify and ultimately protect their children from adverse effects linked with environmental toxicants
The goal of Project 1, "Neurobehavioral Effects of Prevalent Toxicants in Children" is to assess the risks of environmental exposures during two critical developmental phases: in utero and in early childhood.
The goal of Project 2, "Validation of Meconium Markers of Fetal Neurotoxicant Exposures" is to test the hypothesis that meconium samples can be used for simultaneous analysis of several different environmental neurotoxicants to which the fetus is exposed.
The goal of Project 3, a community-based research project "Identifying Residential Hazards Using Home Test Kits" is to test and validate tools for community members to assess levels of contaminants in their home environment.
The goal of Project 4, "Early Exposure to Lead and Adult Antisocial Outcome" is to examine the relationship between early prenatal and postnatal exposure to lead and antisocial behavior in adulthood.
The goal of Project 5, "MR Assessment of Brain Function Altered by Lead Exposure" is to better understand the relationship of environmental lead exposure with alterations in brain neurochemistry, structure, and function using magnetic resonance methods.
