A Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH) physician-scientist has again earned a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to further her lab’s research into environmental factors and early childhood development.
The five-year, $27 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant awarded to Judy Aschner, M.D. and her team is part of an ongoing federal program, Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO). The massive, nationwide study launched in 2016 and renewed in 2023, HMH said.
ECHO supports research across various environmental exposures — physical, chemical, biological, social, and behavioral — to better understand the impacts on child health outcomes. This fresh funding is earmarked to continue studies on a pregnancy cohort of women recruited from Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, New Jersey and Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.
The Aschner Lab is located at the Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) in Nutley, New Jersey, on the campus of Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.
Pregnancy, Environmental Factors, Health Issues
The grant, entitled “Enriching ECHO Cohorts with High-risk Pregnancies and Children with Health Challenges (Enriching ECHO)” focuses on the impact of the environment on outcomes for children with a variety of sensory, motor, and neurodevelopmental challenges.
“This work has lasting significance for science, and society,” said Ihor Sawczuk, M.D., FACS, HMH President of Academics, Research, and Innovation, HMH Research Institute founding chair, associate dean of clinical integration and professor and chair emeritus of urology at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.
“Dr. Aschner’s contributions continue to push our understanding of this critical window of human development,” he added.
Impact on Health Outcomes, Well Being
The scientific premise of Aschner and her team is that prenatal and perinatal (the time immediately before and after birth) environmental exposures and modifiable personal factors impact the well-being of children with chronic health challenges, HMH said in a statement on Aug. 20. This results in definable outcomes of function, life satisfaction, and participation in community and family life.
Their hypothesis: These studies will identify modifiable factors associated with better-than-expected positive health outcomes along the continuum of development to allow children with chronic health challenges — and by extension, all children — to thrive.
Among the aims of the study are: recruiting women with high-risk pregnancies, comparing the trajectories of the development of the children who are born with and without disabilities, and exploring the environmental and psychosocial exposures of the children over time that predict their health outcomes.
“ECHO has done some remarkable work since it was started a decade ago,” said Aschner. “But we think we can do even more to understand the impact of environmental exposures during pregnancy and in early childhood, especially for children who are challenged with disabilities — and ultimately change lives.”
New Funds, Continued Research
The new funding builds on a previously awarded ECHO grant at HMH that was responsible for initially launching this pregnancy cohort. Since January 2024, nearly 850 pregnant women were recruited before the 20th week of gestation from the high-risk obstetric practices at Hackensack University Medical Center, and Prentice Women’s Hospital at Northwestern University.
The study plans seven years of follow-up for the women and their children at the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at HUMC and Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago.
“Judy Aschner’s work is incredibly important and impactful for childhood development,” said David Perlin, Ph.D., executive vice president and chief scientific officer of the CDI.
Dr. Aschner and the National ECHO Program
The national ECHO program focuses on five key pediatric outcomes with a high public health impact: pre-, peri-, and post-natal outcomes; upper and lower airway health; obesity; neurodevelopment; and positive health.
ECHO’s first phase was funded from September 2016 to August 2023 and included over 69 cohorts in 31 NIH awards with over 41,000 participants. Dr. Aschner has been a principal investigator of an ECHO cohort since 2016.
She was the principal investigator for the ECHO-DINE (Developmental Impact of NICU Exposures) award in ECHO cycle 1 consisting of former preterm infants originally recruited from Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) at eight hospitals in the U.S. This preterm cohort was also funded in cycle 2 of EHCO and will allow for continued follow-up of these children (now approaching middle childhood and adolescence) for another seven years.
Dr. Aschner is a board certified neonatologist and professor of pediatrics at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. An internationally recognized leader and physician-scientist in pediatrics, neonatology and perinatal biology, she has devoted her career to the care of critically-ill preterm and term newborns and to improving the outcomes of pregnancy.
About Hackensack Meridian Health
Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization and New Jersey’s largest, most comprehensive, and integrated health network. Its network includes 18 hospitals, more than 500 patient care locations, and a complete range of services from innovative research and life-enhancing care to lifesaving air medical transportation.
HMH has 38,000 team members and 7,000 physicians committed to the health and well-being of the communities they serve, making Hackensack Meridian Health a distinguished leader in healthcare philanthropy.
Hackensack University Medical Center is the first-ever New Jersey hospital to be ranked a Top 20 hospital in the nation. It is also ranked #1 in New Jersey and the New York metro area by U.S. News & World Report, 2025-26. Hackensack Meridian Health is proud to be home to New Jersey’s #1 children’s hospital and the state’s only nationally-ranked cancer center, the John Theurer Cancer Center. To learn more, visit www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org.
About the Center for Discovery and Innovation
The Center for Discovery and Innovation, a member of Hackensack Meridian Health, translates current innovations in science to improve clinical outcomes for patients. More than 34 laboratories, 200+ professional researchers and physician-scientists at the CDI have set their sights on cancer, infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders, and other acute and chronic diseases.
Clinical need drives scientific insights and their application for these researchers, leading to the development of new diagnostics, therapies, and surveillance capabilities in response to emerging health challenges. The CDI harnesses cutting-edge advances in genetics, molecular biology, clinical immunology, imaging, and behavioral sciences to better diagnose, treat and prevent disease through personalized medicine approaches. For additional information, visit www.hmh-cdi.org.