Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Center

The Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Center has a bold research mission: to examine the total impact of environmental exposures on pregnant women, fetuses, infants, and children in order to protect children’s health and stop diseases before they start.

Less than 10 years old, the center has already made major contributions to children’s health. Its scientific findings have led to safer drinking water standards, changes in first-food recommendations for infants, and information that families are using to protect their children from harmful pollutants.

Ultimately, the center seeks to catalyze a reduction in the most common chronic diseases affecting children and adults—including cancer, autism, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, infections, asthma, and food allergies.

Epidemiologist Margaret Karagas, PhD, (left) collaborates with colleagues across Dartmouth, including Celia Chen, PhD, (middle) and Brian Jackson, PhD, (right), shown here in an Earth Sciences lab at Dartmouth. The team analyzes blood, urine, hair, and teeth from thousands of babies and children to detect environmental pollutants.