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Principal Investigator: Natalie Hiromi Brito
Organization: NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $715,736
Funding agency: National Institute of Mental Health
PROJECT SUMMARY
Societal consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are unprecedented. The global community has been
crippled by a public health emergency that has had deleterious health and economic impacts, the scope of
which has yet to be determined. As a result of the current crisis, pregnant women and new mothers are
currently experiencing dramatic loss of medical, financial, and social support, resulting in higher rates of
emotional distress. It is well established that chronic stress can be embedded in the developing neurobiological
system, particularly during sensitive periods of life, but how the timing of maternal stressors and pathways
through which these experiences impact child neurobehavioral development are unclear. The central objective
of this proposal is to examine the association between perinatal COVID-19 stress and longitudinal postnatal
brain development, and to rigorously evaluate timing of exposure, underlying biological mechanisms and
postnatal protective factors. We will enroll 300 women and children from the New York City (NYC) COVID-19
Perinatal Experiences (COPE) cohort into a longitudinal protocol that will measure child biobehavioral
outcomes at 12-, 24-, and 36-months. The COPE cohort is comprised of more than 900 women that were
enrolled into a longitudinal assessment protocol at the height of the pandemic, approximately half of which
were pregnant (54%) and half of which were new mothers (46%). The primary aims of this project are to (i)
identify key windows of perinatal stress vulnerability; (ii) evaluate biological pathways that underlie associations
between maternal COVID-19 stressors and infant neurocognition; and (iii) isolate protective factors in the
postnatal environment that promote resilient outcomes in children exposed to extreme perinatal stress. We will
selectively recruit the proposed subsample for this study based on balance of timing of exposure, severity of
stressors, and sociodemographic factors. We will thus be able to meaningfully evaluate biological
consequences of perinatal stress with control over both timing and aggregate risk. Such work would constitute
a substantial advance in our understanding of the longitudinal effects of maternal perinatal stress on early
human brain development and would also offer potential avenues for promoting healthy outcomes in children
born at the height of history’s most significant perinatal stressor.
Terms: <0-11 years old><Aeroseb-HC><Animals><Behavior><Behavioral><Biological><Brain><Brain Nervous System><Breast Milk><Breastmilk><Buffers><COVID crisis><COVID epidemic><COVID pandemic><COVID-19><COVID-19 affected><COVID-19 associated stress><COVID-19 consequence><COVID-19 crisis><COVID-19 effect><COVID-19 epidemic><COVID-19 era><COVID-19 global health crisis><COVID-19 global pandemic><COVID-19 health crisis><COVID-19 impact><COVID-19 impacted><COVID-19 induced stress><COVID-19 pandemic><COVID-19 pandemic affected><COVID-19 pandemic consequence><COVID-19 pandemic effects><COVID-19 pandemic impact><COVID-19 pandemic impacted><COVID-19 period><COVID-19 public health crisis><COVID-19 related stress><COVID-19 stress><COVID-19 years><CV-19><Cardiac Chronotropism><Caring><Cetacort><Child><Child Development><Child Youth><Children (0-21)><Chronic stress><Collection><Communities><Contracting Opportunities><Contracts><Coronavirus Infectious Disease 2019><Cort-Dome><Cortef><Cortenema><Cortisol><Cortispray><Cortril><Data><Data Set><Dermacort><Development><Disparities><Disparity><EEG><Economics><Eldecort><Electroencephalogram><Electroencephalography><Emotional><Encephalon><Enrollment><Environment><Environmental Factor><Environmental Risk Factor><Equilibrium><Event><Exposure to><Family><Financial Support><Foundations><Future><GI microbiome><GI microbiota><Gastrointestinal microbiota><Gestation><Goals><Hair><Health><Heart Rate><Height><History><Human><Human Milk><Human Mother's Milk><Hydrocortisone><Hydrocortone><Hytone><Individual><Infant><Infant Development><Infant and Child Development><Inflammation><Intervention><Intervention Strategies><Life><Link><Long-Term Effects><Longitudinal Studies><Longterm Effects><Mammary Gland Milk><Measures><Medical><Mental Health><Mental Hygiene><Modern Man><Mother's Milk><Mother-Child Relations><Mother-Child Relationship><Mothers><Neural Development><Neurobiology><Neurocognition><Neurocognitive><New York City><Nutracort><Outcome><Parent-Child Relations><Parent-Child Relationship><Pathway interactions><Pattern><Perinatal><Peripartum><Personal Satisfaction><Physiologic><Physiological><Population><Post-partum Women><Postpartum Women><Pregnancy><Pregnant Women><Proctocort><Protocol><Protocols documentation><Psychological Health><Psychopathology><Recording of previous events><Research><Research Resources><Resources><Rest><Risk><SARS-CoV-2 epidemic><SARS-CoV-2 global health crisis><SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic><SARS-CoV-2 pandemic><SARS-coronavirus-2 epidemic><SARS-coronavirus-2 pandemic><Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoV 2 epidemic><Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoV 2 pandemic><Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 epidemic><Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic><Severities><Social support><Stress><Survey Instrument><Surveys><System><Testing><Time><Toddler><Transmission><United States><Virus><Woman><Work><abnormal psychology><anxious behavior><balance><balance function><biobehavior><biobehavioral><biologic><brain behavior><build resilience><build resiliency><care giving><caregiving><cognitive function><cohort><coronavirus disease 2019><coronavirus disease 2019 consequence><coronavirus disease 2019 crisis><coronavirus disease 2019 effect><coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic><coronavirus disease 2019 global health crisis><coronavirus disease 2019 global pandemic><coronavirus disease 2019 health crisis><coronavirus disease 2019 impact><coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic><coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic consequence><coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic impact><coronavirus disease 2019 public health crisis><coronavirus disease crisis><coronavirus disease epidemic><coronavirus disease pandemic><coronavirus disease-19><coronavirus disease-19 global pandemic><coronavirus disease-19 impact><coronavirus disease-19 pandemic><coronavirus infectious disease-19><develop resilience><develop resiliency><developmental><digestive tract microbiome><early life stress><economic><economic impact><effects following the COVID-19 pandemic><emotional distress><enhance resilience><enhance resiliency><enroll><enteric microbial community><enteric microbiome><enteric microbiota><environmental risk><expectant mother><expecting mother><experience><feeling distress><feeling upset><financial assistance><gastrointestinal microbial flora><gastrointestinal microbiome><gut commensal><gut community><gut flora><gut microbe community><gut microbial community><gut microbial composition><gut microbial consortia><gut microbiome><gut microbiota><gut microbiotic><gut microflora><gut-associated microbiome><histories><impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic><improve resilience><improve resiliency><improved><increase resilience><increase resiliency><infancy><infantile><inflammation marker><inflammatory marker><interest><interventional strategy><intestinal biome><intestinal flora><intestinal microbiome><intestinal microbiota><intestinal microflora><intestinal tract microflora><kids><long-term study><longitudinal outcome studies><longterm study><maternal milk><maternal stress><mother child interaction><neurobehavioral><neurobiological><neurodevelopment><neuropsychiatric><neuropsychiatry><pandemic><pandemic disease><parent child interaction><parent offspring interaction><pathway><perinatal period><perinatal phase><postnatal><pregnant><pregnant mothers><prenatal><promote resilience><promote resiliency><prospective><protective factors><psychosocial><public health emergency><recruit><resilience development><response><severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 global health crisis><severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 global pandemic><social><social norm><social support network><socio-demographic factors><socio-demographics><sociodemographic factors><sociodemographics><stress due to COVID-19><stressed mothers><stressor><transmission process><unborn><well-being><wellbeing><youngster>