Asset Publisher

Research & Innovation Programmes
Research, Urban Planning, Environment and Health

BiSC (Barcelona Life Study Cohort)

Projecte BiSC
Duration
2018-2023
Coordinator
Jordi Sunyer (ISGlobal)
Funded by
European Research Council (ERC) & Health Effects Institute (HEI)
Website
http://www.biscproject.org

The BiSC (Barcelona Life Study Cohort) Project is one of the largest studies to date to understand the effect of air pollution on infant health and brain development, even before birth.

The project is coordinated by ISGlobal in collaboration with the BCNatal center (Hospital Sant Joan de Deu, Hospital Clínic and the University of Barcelona) and the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau.

The project pursues lines of research opened by previous studies, such as the INMA Project and BREATHE, also coordinated by Jordi Sunyer, Head of ISGlobal’s Childhood and Environment Programme. The main findings to date indicate that air pollution has a negative impact on the cognitive function of school children and is associated with changes in their brain function. BiSC aims to focus on the earliest phases of life to pinpoint the moment at which air pollution starts having an effect on brain development. To do so, they will examine the brain by means of imaging tests before and after birth. The study will also look at the effect on foetal and newborn growth. 

A call for pregnant women  

The project is in the process of building a cohort of pregnant women. The initial aim is to recruit 1,200 volunteers living in Barcelona and in their first trimester of pregnancy. BCNatal and the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau will offer the possibility of participating through their obstetrics consultation service. Women interested in participating can request information through the project website www.biscproject.org.

BiSC has been made possible by a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant (project 'Pre-natal exposure to urban AIR pollution and pre- and post-Natal Brain development, AIR-NB) and competitive funding from the Health Effects Institute (HEI) (project 'Traffic-related air pollution and birth weight: the roles of noise, placental function, green space, physical activity, and socioeconomic status, FRONTIER).

The initial duration is of three years, although the long-term objective is to establish a birth cohort that allows following the health of the recruited mothers and newborns during their entire life. 

Budget

3.5 million euros

Our Team

Principal Investigators (PI)

ISGlobal Team

See More

Other projects

See Past Projects

MCC-Spain

Population based multicasecontrol study on common tumours in Spain

HELIX

Novel tools for integrating early-life environmental exposures and child health across Europe

EGG/EAGLE

Early Genetics Growth/Early Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology

PACE

Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics

LIFECYCLE

Early-life stressors and LifeCycle health

OMEGA-NET

Network on the Coordination and Harmonisation of European Occupational Cohorts

HARMONIC

Health effects of cArdiac fluoRoscopy and mOdern radIotherapy in paediatriCs

Mobilise-D

Connecting digital mobility assessment to clinical outcomes for regulatory and clinical endorsement

EARLY-ADAPT

Signs of Early Adaptation to Climate Change

COVICAT

Cohorte Covid-19 en Cataluña

ATHLETE

Advancing Tools for Human Early Lifecourse Exposome Research and Translation

CONTENT

Cohort of COVID-19 in Spain: social dynamics, mental health and inequalities

EUCAN-Connect

A federated FAIR platform enabling large-scale analysis of high-value cohort data connecting Europe and Canada in personalized health

OBERON

An integrative strategy of testing systems for identification of EDs related to metabolic disorders

EXPANSE

EXposome Powered tools for healthy living in urbAN SEttings

AURORA 2021

Actionable eUropean ROadmap for early-life health Risk Assessment of micro- and nanoplastics

ONES

Fine Particle Matter, Fetal Growth, and Neurodevelopment: Examining Critical Windows of Susceptibility

AIR-NB

Pre-natal exposure to urban AIR pollution and pre- and post-Natal Brain development

NutinBrain

The role of seafood and nut consumption on human neurodevelopment from pregnancy to adolescence

UrbanKids

Urban and social environment and childhood obesity – a natural moving2health experiment

iGenCO

In-Depth Genomics and Cross-Omics Analysis for Undiagnosed Rare Diseases on a User-Friendly Collaborative Platform

CityExposomeCat

An Exposome Approach to Urban Health: Individualized Environmental Exposure Assessment in an Adults Population Cohort Study (GCAT)

TwinAir

Digital Twins Enabled Indoor Air Quality Management for Healthy Living

UBDPOLICY

The Urban Burden of Disease Estimation for POLICY Making

TOLIFE

Combining Artificial Intelligence and smart sensing TOward better management and improved quality of LIFE in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

BWater

Drinking Water in Barcelona: Sustainability and Health Impact Assessment

intoDBP

Innovative Tools to Control Organic Matter and Disinfection Byproducts in Drinking Water

FINDOOR

FTIR spectroscopy for real-time detection of bacterial outbreaks and the rapid identification of pathogenic serotypes, relapsing infections and antibiotic resistance

OccRF-Health

Occupational exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields: From exposure assessment to study of health in workers and their offspring

EPHOR

Exposome Project for Health and Occupational Research

EXPONIT

Analysing and studying how night shift work affects workers' circadian rhythms and health

IHEN

International Human Exposome Network

B-Triage

Una prueba en el punto de atención para la estratificación del riesgo de los pacientes febriles basada en los niveles de sTREM-1

e-QuoL

e-health tools to promote Equality in Quality of Life for childhood to young adulthood cancer patients, survivors and their families