title: Prenatal and Perinatal Determinants of Lung Health and Disease in Early Life: A National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Workshop Report.
abstract: Human lung growth and development begins with preconception exposures and continues through conception and childhood into early adulthood. Numerous environmental exposures (both positive and negative) can affect lung health and disease throughout life. Infant lung health correlates with adult lung function, but significant knowledge gaps exist regarding the influence of preconception, perinatal, and postnatal exposures on general lung health throughout life. On October 1 and 2, 2015, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute convened a group of extramural investigators to develop their recommendations for the direction(s) for future research in prenatal and perinatal determinants of lung health and disease in early life and to identify opportunities for scientific advancement. They identified that future investigations will need not only to examine abnormal lung development, but also to use developing technology and resources to better define normal and/or enhanced lung health. Birth cohort studies offer key opportunities to capture the important influence of preconception and obstetric risk factors on lung health, development, and disease. These studies should include well-characterized obstetrical data and comprehensive plans for prospective follow-up. The importance of continued basic science, translational, and animal studies for providing mechanisms to explain causality using new methods cannot be overemphasized. Multidisciplinary approaches involving obstetricians, neonatologists, pediatric and adult pulmonologists, and basic scientists should be encouraged to design and conduct comprehensive and impactful research on the early stages of normal and abnormal human lung growth that influence adult outcome.
authors.affiliation: Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
authors.forename: Tracy A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Manuck
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri3Goryeb Children's Hospital, Atlantic Health System, Morristown, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Philip T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.affiliation: Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gyamfi-Bannerman
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio.
authors.forename: Alan H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Jobe
authors.affiliation: Division of Lung Diseases, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Carol J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Blaisdell
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D000068104:Infant Health; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008168:Lung / Q000254:growth & development*; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D054555:National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (U.S.); D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D015656:Respiratory Mechanics; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014481:United States