Cutting the ribbon to open the Bexar County offices of the National Children’s Study (NCS) are (left to right) William Henrich, M.D., MACP, president of the Health Science Center; Daniel Hale, M.D., professor and chief of pediatric endocrinology, and NCS principal investigator; a family, symbolizing the National Children’s Study; Donald Dudley, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and NCS co-principal investigator; and Robert Schenken, M.D., Ph.D., chair of obstetrics and gynecology. Holding the ribbon are Liz Perez (left) and Jacqueline Sarracino, (right), who recruited the first baby and newborn participants in the study.
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Contact: Elizabeth Allen,
210-450-2020

SAN ANTONIO (June 21, 2011) — The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio has begun enrolling local patients in what will likely be the nation’s largest long-term study on childhood and pregnancy.

The National Children’s Study is a federally funded survey that will examine the effects of the environment — including such factors as air, water, diet, noise, family dynamics, genetics, and community and cultural influences — on 100,000 children across the United States. The study begins by recruiting pregnant women, and will follow the growth, development and health of their children until age 21.

The long-term study was launched by Health Science Center President William L. Henrich, M.D., and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro at a June 28 press conference, along with the study’s principal investigators and staff, study participants and community leaders.

Environmental and genetic factors
“There is so much to learn about the conditions in a child’s world that influence that child’s lifelong health,” said Daniel E. Hale, M.D., professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine and a physician with UT Medicine San Antonio, the faculty practice of the School of Medicine, as well as principal investigator for the Bexar County site. The same group will also launch Hidalgo and Travis county sites at a later date.

“The National Children’s Study will help us understand the many ways environmental factors interact with a child’s genetic inheritance,” Dr. Hale said. Researchers hope to learn about contributing factors of autism, asthma, childhood obesity and many other issues.

Donald J. Dudley, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and UT Medicine San Antonio physician, is co-principal investigator for the Bexar County site.

Co-principal investigator Donald J. Dudley, M.D., is particularly interested in the outcomes that the study will reveal. The professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the School of Medicine and UT Medicine physician said the response of providers has been strong.

“We’ve only been actively recruiting about two months, and already about 20 women have joined the study,” Dr. Dudley said. “That tells you that women are interested in the study because they’re interested in the health of their children.”

San Antonio among the first sites in the nation
The San Antonio-based site is one of the earlier ones up and running in the complex study, which will have 105 sites across the country. It is a logical choice, Dr. Dudley said. “We are a good example of where population trends are headed in the United States.

“It’s a longitudinal study from the perspective that we’ll be observing health outcomes of both pregnant women and their children as they grow over the course of 20 years,” Dr. Dudley said, “but it is a little different in that we’re not doing any interventions, we’re just following outcomes of the gene/environment interaction in the world of a child.”

For more information about the National Children's Study visit http://centers.nationalchildrensstudy.gov/uths/Pages/default.aspx or call 1-877-436-3020.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving federal funding. Research and other sponsored program activity totaled $228 million in fiscal year 2010. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced approximately 26,000 graduates. The $744 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.