Research & Evaluation

Developmental Risk Factors and Vulnerable Children

• National Institutes of Health-District of Columbia Initiative to Reduce Infant Mortality

  Principal Investigator: Siva Subramanian, MD
  Participating Researcher: Kathy Katz, Ph.D.

  This is a five-year community-based research program involving collaborative teams of investigators from Georgetown University Medical Center, Howard University Medical Center, Children’s Hospital, and George Washington University Medical Center. These teams are implementing a series of research studies designed to reduce the rate of premature and low birth weight infant deliveries in Washington, D.C. and to identify and reduce barriers to health care for pregnant women and their children. The research protocols include: enhancing identification of and intervention for psychosocial risks in women in prenatal care; intervening on reproductive risk behaviors; developing smoking cessation interventions for pregnant women; preventing adolescent pregnancy; and designing screening measures for alcohol-use risk in women in prenatal care.

• Neuropsychological Effects in Children Exposed to Cocaine in Utero

Investigator: Audrey Davis, Ph.D.

This study examines the neuropsychological effects of exposure to cocaine in utero for children from high risk families in Prince Georges County, Maryland.