By Julie Bierach, KWMU
SAINT LOUIS, MO – The city of St. Louis and Macoupin County, Illinois will be part of the largest study of child and human health ever conducted in the United States.
Saint Louis University will lead several area institutions in studying 1,000 participants beginning in 2009.
The National Children's Study will follow 100,000 children across the country from before birth to age 21.
Dr. Terry Leet is lead investigator of the St. Louis and Macoupin county study sites. He says the goal is to learn more about environmental and genetic factors that affect children's' health.
"Basically the study is to collect the data so that we can start looking at how our environment and our genes, or our DNA, actually affect the risk of developing certain diseases or disorders among our children," says Leet who is also chairman of the department of community health at Saint Louis University School of Public Health.
Investigators will take environmental samples of water and air, and children will be screened for asthma, birth defects, diabetes, and autism.
"The more common diseases that we see in our children are the diseases that we will be studying to see if there's a link between the environment around us, both the physical and social environment, and the interaction they may have with our genetic makeup," says Dr. Leet.
Saint Louis University School of Public Health is partnering with Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Nursing, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and St. Louis Battelle Memorial Institute.