The Drexel University College of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia will manage the Schuylkill County, Pa. and New Castle County, Del. study sites in the National Children’s Study. The two institutions will be responsible for local participation, recruitment and data collection in the newly designated study sites.

The National Children’s Study, the first and largest long-term study of children’s health ever conducted in the United States, is funded by the National Institutes of Health and will examine the effects of environmental influences on the health and development of children from before birth until age 21.

The new study sites were chosen for their geographic and demographic diversity and other criteria, such as the number of births and the number of babies born at low birth weight.

Drexel’s Dr. Jennifer Culhane, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, is the co-principal investigator for the Schuylkill County and New Castle County sites. Children’s Hospital is represented by Dr. Donald Schwarz, deputy physician-in-chief of the Department of Pediatrics and principal investigator for the two sites.

When the study began in 2005, Drexel University College of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia managed the Montgomery County, Pa. site, one of seven vanguard sites. This year, when Congress appropriated more money for the study, it allowed for the new study centers and further activities at the vanguard locations. When complete, the study will have been conducted in 105 sites across the country.