Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( 🔒 ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Need Help

Detecting Early Life Exposures on Mid-Life Mortality in the US through Big Data

Award Number: R01AG097622
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2026
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 04/30/2031

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Detecting Early Life Exposures on Mid-Life Mortality in the US through Big Data - Detecting Early Life Exposures on Mid-Life Mortality in the US through Big Data Project Summary/Abstract This project will trace the mid-life mortality of birth cohorts of the mid 20th century in the US by place, time, and family factors. Combining “big data” with a large array of contextual exposures, we substantially deepen our understanding of the complexities of how childhood exposures to disease, economic change, stress, and nutritional programs shape mid-life mortality profiles of cohorts born ~1940-1960. We fuse together hypothesis-driven tests and data driven discoveries; Our proposal combines the massive Numident/BUNMD and MLP data, which contains >3.5 million death records between 1988-2005 to test specific hypotheses as well as generate new hypotheses around the main, interactive, and cumulative effects of exposures during sensitive periods of development that may shape mid-life mortality experiences of these cohorts. Our interdisciplinary group of demographers, economists, sociologists and others combines our expertise with the Census/Mortality data as well as with testing hypotheses from the Developmental Origins of Adult Health and Disease theories to pursue an interconnected set of specific aims to push forward the frontier of understanding the complex links between early life exposures and mid-life mortality. Aim 1 leverages multiple “natural experiment” research designs to estimate causal main and interactive effects of specific early life exposures and how these effects vary by sex, geography, and family background. We focus particular attention on the impacts of WWII (parental loss, war mobilization activities), the 1957 Influenza Pandemic, and the 1946 National School Lunch Program on the mid-life mortality profiles of affected cohorts. We then make use of machine learning tools to synthesize estimates that may vary by age of exposure, sequence of exposures, and domain of exposures during early life. These models explore impacts of cumulative exposures, dynamic complementarity of exposures and potential for reversibility of early insults using well powered analysis not available elsewhere. Aim 2 extends the literature by focusing on the intergenerational consequences of early life exposures of the parents' generation on the mid-life mortality of their children. Again, we focus on disease exposures and also public health interventions and educational expansions. Aim 3 explores mechanisms between particular exposures and mid-life mortality by focusing attention on the Project Talent cohort (born 1942-1947) as well as LIFE-M data that has deeper information to examine case studies of environmental and educational pathways in North Carolina and Ohio during this period.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $427,646 )
2026	2026	NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC	1050 MASSACHUSETTS AVE	CAMBRIDGE	MA	02138	MIDDLESEX	USA	Aging Research	000	1	8/13/2026	NEW	$427,646
														Subtotal = $427,646

Grand Total All Awards = $427,646

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Detecting Early Life Exposures on Mid-Life Mortality in the US through Big Data

Award Number: R01AG097622

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2026

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 04/30/2031

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer