The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has given $57 million to Michigan State University (MSU) so the university can continue participating in the National Children’s Study.
The National Children’s Study monitors the health of more than 100,000 children from birth to age 21.
“This is the largest human health study ever undertaken,”says Nigel Paneth, MSU professor of epidemiology, and pediatrics and human development and the project’s principal investigator. “By following children from before birth and studying their environment, we will be able to seek out ways to prevent many of the diseases children now suffer from.”
Researchers also strive to find the causes of ailments such as autism,
cerebral palsy and asthma. The new funds will allow MSU to monitor
children in Genesee, Grand Traverse, Lenawee and Macomb Counties.
The project will follow about 1,000 participants in each of the five counties to study the environmental influences that affect them, including toxins, nutrition, physical living conditions and socioeconomic factors, Paneth says.
MSU received $18.5 million last fall to complete similar research in Wayne County.
Source: MSU
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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