Research Programmes

Childhood and Environment

Photo: woodleywonderworks

Children’s health is considered a priority at the international level—and also at ISGlobal. Our Childhood and Environment programme focuses on evaluating the effects of environmental pollutants on children’s health , with particular emphasis on exposure during pregnancy and the postnatal period. The figure below describes the main areas of research interest in this field:

 

 

  1. Exposures
    —Urban environment (e.g. air pollution, noise, green spaces, pedestrian areas, temperature, light)
    —Indoor pollution (e.g. air pollution, mould)
    —Water pollution (e.g. chlorination by-products, microplastics)
    —Toxic chemical compounds (e.g. persistent organic pollutants, bisphenol A, phthalates, pesticides, heavy metals)
    —Electromagnetic fields
    —Lifestyle (e.g. nutrition, physical activity, sleep)
    —Social determinants (e.g. restrictions, socio-economic status, education)
    —Genetics
  2. Biological responses
    —Epigenetics
    —Metabolomics and proteins
    —Immune system
    —Microbiota
  3. Health impacts
    —Neurodevelopment and mental health
    —Obesity and cardiometabolic health
    —Respiratory health and allergies
    —Foetal growth and birth outcomes
    —Puberty

ISGlobal-Led Birth Cohorts

Within the Childhood and Environment programme, there is a strong focus on longitudinal birth cohort research. We are currently leading a Spanish network of birth cohorts called the INMA Environment and Childhood Project as well as the BiSC birth cohort (in Barcelona and the surrounding metropolitan area).

 

ISGlobal-Led Birth Cohort Networks

ISGlobal has also been instrumental in building a birth cohort network in Europe through three European projects: ENRIECO, from 2009 to 2011; CHICOS, from 2010 to 2013; and LIFECYCLE, from 2017 to 2021. These efforts have resulted in a framework for data sharing and harmonisation across than 30 European birth cohorts.

Our Team

Head

  • Martine Vrijheid
    Martine Vrijheid Head of the Childhood and Environment Programme, Research Professor and Coordinator of INMA-Sabadell Cohort

Our Team

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Highlighted Projects

APACHE

Air Pollution, Autism spectrum disorders, and brain imaging in CHildren amongst Europe

LIFECYCLE

Early-life stressors and LifeCycle health

ATHLETE

Advancing Tools for Human Early Lifecourse Exposome Research and Translation

MOOD COVID Project

MOOD-COVID

Pre- and post-natal Maternal mental health and newbOrn neurOdevelopment during the COVID-19 panDemic

EUCAN-connect project

EUCAN-Connect

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

OBERON Project

OBERON

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

AURORA 2021 project

AURORA 2021

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

ELHNA project

ELHNA

Exposures to light pollution and heat, and neurodevelopment in adolescents

ONES Project

ONES

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

AIR-NB Project

AIR-NB

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

FRONTIER project

FRONTIER

Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Birth Weight: the Roles of Noise, Placental Function, Green Space, Physical Activity, and Socioeconomic Status

ALTER Project

ALTER

Air Pollution, Gut Microbiota and Neurodevelopment in the First 24 Months of Life

UrbanKids

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

Other projects

See Past Projects

The Lungfit Project

Socioeconomic Status, Physical Activity, and Respiratory Health in Pregnant Women, Children, and Adolescents

ExPEC-TEEN

Prenatal Exposure to Environmental Pollutants and Metabolic and Cardiovascular Health of the Teenagers

HELIX-NAFLD

Developmental origins of child liver injury: the effect of early life environmental exposures

The APBO Project

Air Pollution and Birth Outcomes: Windows of Exposure and Health and Economic Impact Assessment

INMA-Ado-Sueño

Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields, Noise, and Sleep Disorders in Adolescence

IGRO

The Impact of Maternal-Fetal Steroid Metabolome Exposure on Child GROwth and Neurological Outcomes

NutinBrain

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

EGG/EAGLE

Early Genetics Growth/Early Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology

PACE

Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics

UrbaMet

Entorno Urbano y Salud Cardiometabólica desde el Nacimiento hasta la Adolescencia

NutriPROGRAM

Early-life Nutritional Programming of Metabolic Health through Epigenetic Pathways

ANSES HyPAXE

Prenatal Exposure to a Family of Short Half-Life Endocrine Disruptors, Dysregulation of the Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis and Potential Implication for Child Neurodevelopment at Early Age

EXPO-ENFANTS

Caractérisation des usages et de l’exposition aux radiofréquences induite par les dispositifs de communication mobiles chez les enfants

Lily

Light at Night Exposure and Sleep Quality

EMBRYORAD

Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields, Other Environmental Factors, and Development of the Embryo and Fetus