BEAMS ABSTRACT: Core B The prevalence of childhood asthma varies dramatically between populations living in different environments, suggesting that pre-natal and early life environmental exposures play a role in establishing risk for this common disease through influencing patterns of gut microbiota and immune development. The Binational Early Asthma and Microbiome Study (BEAMS) Program Project takes advantage of a natural experiment in our own backyard to elucidate the microbial origins of asthma protection. It will initiate a birth cohort study in two populations with shared ancestry but dramatically different environments, which we have shown to have high and low prevalence of asthma: Mexican American children born in Tucson, Arizona and children born in Nogales, Mexico, respectively. The Recruitment, Data Collection and Sample Management Core (Core B), is critical to this effort as it will direct, coordinate and complete all data collection on subjects enrolled in BEAMS. Core B will serve all three projects proposed in this application, collecting blood and data for Project 1 and all the microbiota and environmental samples used in Projects 2 and 3.
Specific aims of Core B are to: 1) Enroll 250 Mexican American women in Tucson, Arizona and 250 Mexican women in Nogales, Mexico in the third trimester of pregnancy, obtain samples for immunologic and microbiome assessments, obtain environmental samples, and administer questionnaires for identification of prenatal exposures and potential covariates; 2) Follow the children of these women from birth through the first 24 months of life, sampling stool and blood repeatedly, obtaining environmental samples and administering questionnaires on exposures and intercurrent illnesses that may influence asthma risk or the development of the gut microbiome and clinical outcomes; and 3) Provide the resources for collection of all data on BEAMS subjects and manage all samples and questionnaires obtained from collection in the field through sample processing in the labs, including inventory control, data entry and quality control, and distribution to the appropriate laboratories. Core B will provide the resources for collection of all data on BEAMS subjects, including personnel experienced in subject recruitment, home environmental assessments, blood sampling and questionnaire administration, a laboratory for inventorying and processing of environmental samples, and an infrastructure for specimen transport across the border. Core B will leverage enduring relationships with two comprehensive health centers that will serve as our clinical partners for recruitment and follow-up of mother/infant dyads. The Core B team includes national leaders in the conduct of highly successful birth cohort studies and border health who bring long-term relationships with the communities that will participate in the study. By implementing a coordinated approach to sample and data collection, Core B will assure that comprehensive information is obtained on pregnant women and their children from birth through 24 months in this unique border setting, thereby assuring the Program will achieve its overarching goals.
