Research Projects

ECHO-UPSIDE

The Rochester ECHO-UPSIDE project was initiated in 2015 with a 5-year grant from the NICHD and was extended considerably in 2016 with a 7-year NIH grant. The project has been following over 300 mothers from the first trimester to examine how prenatal experiences such as stress and anxiety, and prenatal biological factors such as inflammation, may shape individual differences in child behavior, neurodevelopment, and growth.

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Family Life Project

Since 2013, we have been working the Family Life Project, a large-scale, longitudinal study of over 1,000 children in families from rural areas in Pennsylvania and North Carolina that was initiated in 2003-2004 by investigators at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Pennsylvania State University. The children have been followed since early infancy; we at Rochester joined the study when the children were approaching adolescence to study how early life experiences and exposures shaped mental and somatic health, and particularly the role of immune health.

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Reducing Early Age Cavities At Home (REACH)

The REACH study started in 2015 to examine if, and how, social, behavioral, and family factors may be involved the onset of early childhood caries (cavities), one of the major public health problems affecting young children.  We study approximately 200 initially caries-free children for two years, and conduct intensive social, family, and oral health assessments every six months.

Learn more about Reducing Early Age Cavities At Home (REACH)

Rochester Studies of Prenatal Anxiety and Depression

The second of two Rochester Child Health studies was launched in 2007 with a program grant from the NICHD. It follows approximately 200 families for 3 years to understand how social context, psychosocial influences, and family factors shape child immune health. This was the second of two NICHD-supported child health studies to understand the behavioral and social influences on immune health in young children. 

Learn more about Rochester Studies of Prenatal Anxiety and Depression

Rochester Child Health Studies

In 2007, with support from a program grant from the NIMH, we launched a prospective, longitudinal study to examine how psychological and biological factors in pregnancy may shape behavioral, cognitive, biological health of the baby. We followed approximately 200 families from mid-gestation, including detailed assessments of maternal health and behavior and detailed studies of child behavior, parent-child relationships, and child immune health.

Learn more about Rochester Child Health Studies

Parenting and Intervention Studies (in the UK)

The SPACE study, based at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience in London (UK), is a longitudinal follow-up, in adolescence, of two samples of children who participated in an early intervention for disruptive behavioral disorders.  The early intervention, based on a randomized control trial design and based on the Incredible Years’ parenting program, was effective in reducing disruptive behavior in early childhood. 
 

The PALS study, also based at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience in London (UK), is a randomized control trial of an early intervention for disruptive behavioral disorders.  The children and families participating in the study are quite diverse in terms of ethic/racial and economic backgrounds.
 

Learn more about Parenting and Intervention Studies (in the UK)

Prenatal Anxiety and Stress Studies (in the UK)

ALSPAC-based studies
For about two decades, we (with collaborators Vivette Glover, Kieran O’Donnell, Jean Golding and others) have had the good fortune with work with the ALSPAC study, based at the University of Bristol in the UK. The study provided an unparalleled opportunity to examine the early-emerging and long-term effects of prenatal maternal anxiety on children’s behavioral, cognitive, and biological health. 

Imperial College Studies of Prenatal Anxiety and Stress
Studies of prenatal influences on child development are quite limited in measuring direct exposures to the fetus. Many years ago, we capitalized on the use of amniocentesis for clinical purposes to conduct a study of amniotic fluid, which provides a more direct index of fetal exposure; we targeted cortisol, a stress hormone, and testosterone, a sex steroid, in amniotic fluid. We followed up a subset of these children with behavioral, cognitive, and neuroimaging assessments through middle childhood.

Learn more about Prenatal Anxiety and Stress Studies (in the UK)