ECHO Boston

ECHO, which stands for Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes, is a program started by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) intended to understand how our environment affects child health and development. ECHO's mission is to enhance the health of children for generations to come. ECHO studies the health effects of nutrition, environment (social and built), and chemicals on children and their families across the country. The ECHO Program aims to enroll more than 50,000 children. The ECHO Cohort consortium comprises 45 study awards and 72 study sites along with 5 cores and centers that provide administrative support and data analysis.

ECHO Boston is one of ECHO's research sites enrolling pregnant women who receive their prenatal care through Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) or Bowdoin Street Health Center. Participants who are recruited into the study must be less than 20 weeks pregnant. ECHO Boston follows mothers, children, and families from early pregnancy onwards. Study visits are based on age (i.e., 0-5 months, 6-11 months, etc.) and take place at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute (HPHCI) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). As part of study visits, ECHO Boston collects biological samples, such as blood and urine, measures height and weight, and participants are also asked to complete questionnaires. The goal of the research is to better understand how neighborhood and individual characteristics influence pregnancy outcomes and child health.