Monday, December 22, 2025 12/22/2025

Air pollutant exposure and progression of subclinical atherosclerosis during the critical transition from childhood to adulthood

Award Number: R01ES031590
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 12/16/2020
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 10/31/2026

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Air pollutant exposure and progression of subclinical atherosclerosis during the critical transition from childhood to adulthood - Project Summary Cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for the largest proportion of mortality and morbidity worldwide. While a strong body of evidence supports a role for long-term air pollution exposure in CVD among adults, relatively little is known about how air pollution exposures may affect the development of subclinical atherogenesis in younger populations. Early markers of these pathogenic processes, including carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT), arterial stiffening (CAS), and arterial wall composition as measured by echogenicity, may provide insight into different facets of the beginnings of disease. The lack of longitudinal studies with repeated characterization of measures of subclinical atherosclerosis in younger populations is a major gap in the field and it is unclear whether early life exposures to air pollutants may impact the progression of carotid atherosclerosis from childhood into adulthood. We hypothesize that ambient and traffic-related air pollutant exposures may influence the development of adverse subclinical cardiovascular phenotypes, indicated by carotid atherosclerosis progression, as children grow into early adulthood. We will test this hypothesis within the Southern California Children's Health Study (CHS), one of the largest and most comprehensive investigations of the long-term effects of air pollution on children's health. Carotid artery ultrasounds were performed on a subset of CHS children at age 10, providing an early measure of subclinical atherosclerosis. As these participants now approach early adulthood (~21-23 years), we are uniquely poised to address the question of whether lifetime air pollution exposures are associated with changes in atherosclerosis markers from childhood into early adulthood. Using childhood carotid artery ultrasound images as a baseline measure, we propose to leverage ongoing follow-up of CHS participants to obtain a repeat assessment of subclinical atherosclerosis measures (CIMT and CAS), and calculate carotid echogenicity (GSM), a novel metric of arterial wall composition, from baseline and follow-up ultrasound images. We will evaluate the effects of residential ambient and traffic-related air pollutants on changes in these measures of subclinical atherosclerosis over time, as well as attained level of atherosclerosis in early adulthood. We will also evaluate the relation between air pollution exposure and biomarkers of cardiometabolic dysfunction (glucose, lipids, HbA1c), to begin to investigate potential mechanisms underlying early atherosclerosis. This novel study will fill a critical gap in our knowledge of subclinical atherosclerosis in children over time and investigate the impact of lifetime air pollution exposure on early phases of disease progression.


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 = $0 )
2026	2025	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90033	LOS ANGELES	USA	Environmental Health	000	5	10/28/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $609,244 )
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90033	LOS ANGELES	USA	Environmental Health	001	5	9/26/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90033	LOS ANGELES	USA	Environmental Health	000	5	11/1/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$609,244
														Subtotal = $609,244

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $584,123 )
2024	2024	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST	LOS ANGELES	CA	90089	LOS ANGELES	USA	Environmental Health	000	4	10/27/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$584,123
														Subtotal = $584,123

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $583,442 )
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90007	LOS ANGELES	USA	Environmental Health	000	3	11/4/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$583,442
														Subtotal = $583,442

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $573,553 )
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90007	LOS ANGELES	USA	Environmental Health	000	2	10/28/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$573,553
														Subtotal = $573,553

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $573,553 )
2021	2021	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3	LOS ANGELES	CA	90007	LOS ANGELES	USA	Environmental Health	000	1	12/16/2020	NEW	$573,553
														Subtotal = $573,553

Grand Total All Awards = $2,923,915

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Air pollutant exposure and progression of subclinical atherosclerosis during the critical transition from childhood to adulthood

Award Number: R01ES031590

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

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

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 12/16/2020

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 10/31/2026

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