April 3, 2024
Dr. Lea Yerby, associate professor of community medicine and population health with CCHS, and her University of Alabama research team are working to recruit families to participate in a study about the impact of environment and social conditions on a child’s growth and development.
Information about the study, “The HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study at The University of Alabama: Implementing a Longitudinal Cohort Study with Local Families,” was presented at a CCHS conference March 19.
The study is funded by the National Institutes of Health HEAL Initiative. CCHS is one of 27 research sites across the United States participating in the study, and is a partner site with the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
“We have been involved in this study since September 2021, and our focus is on recruiting pregnant women in their second trimester and their offspring living in rural Alabama communities to study how environmental and social factors influence the brain and development of the children,” Yerby said. “We recruit through our family navigators at University Medical Center in the Pediatrics Clinic, UMC-Carrollton and UMC-Northport.” CCHS operates University Medical Center.
Any pregnant person in their second trimester living in West Alabama is eligible to enroll.
Family navigators assist in the recruitment, screening, consenting and survey portions of the participants’ visits.
“We believe it is best for the navigators to walk them through the process because they have already established a relationship with that person,” Yerby said. “There are eight visits in total, and some of those visits can be done remotely. The first visit is prenatal, before the child is born. The second visit is when the child is between zero and one month of age but can be scheduled up to three months after birth.”
During the visits, surveys are used to collect information about environmental factors, such as food insecurity, work-related stress, financial troubles, violence at home and exposures to second-hand smoke or lead.
Data is also collected on: pregnancy and fetal development; brain imaging (MRI); biosensors and electroencephalogram (EEG) tests; family medical data; and bio specimens of saliva, urine and blood.
“All of our staff are infant and CPR certified,” said Yerby. “We do receive clinical alerts when survey response answers meet a threshold for depression, suicidality and interpersonal violence. If there are alerts related to the MRI scan, we send those to radiologists at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, as a double line of defense.”
So far, Yerby and her team have had 13 participants complete their first visit and one participant complete a second visit.
“This study is measuring everything you could think of and is for our families,” Yerby said. “We are looking at what it is like to live and grow and develop in our environment in West Alabama.”
Yerby said her team can assist with transportation, food, childcare and potential lodging for participants that have challenges making the visits to the research study site. She also said the entire study is conducted in one facility at UA, which also provides a comfortable space for participants to relax during the longer portions of the study.
Pregnant participants have the option of additional support from navigators who are trained and certified as doulas and who can assist them with labor and delivery needs if they opt in. After delivery, a post-partum visit ensures participants have resources available for themselves and their child. Childhood educational classes are also offered to the participants.
“It’s been rewarding that sometimes we are the first call after delivery for our babies and for those moms that have chosen that additional support. In our community, it’s such a critical need to retain and connect with our families,” said Yerby.
Other CCHS faculty involved with the study include Drs. Catherine Lavender, Lilanta Bradley, John McDonald and Brian Gannon.
