Study Center
The Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides technical and administrative oversight to the Centers for Birth Defects Research and Prevention (CBDRP). The CDC also participates in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS) as the Georgia study center.
The CDC has monitored birth defects and genetic diseases in Atlanta since 1968 through the Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Program (MACDP) surveillance system. MACDP provides data collection on all major structural birth defects and serves as a model for other state surveillance systems. It also provides the Georgia study center with cases for NBDPS and the diagnostic information to classify cases.
The Georgia study center has allowed CDC to strengthen its research agenda, particularly in gene-environment interaction studies and to maximize the use of CDC staff members’ expertise. By participating in the NBDPS, more than 3,000 women from Georgia have helped us to understand the causes of birth defects. For more information on the Georgia study center, please visit the website.
Principal Investigators:
 Jennita Reefhuis, PhD, is the Project Officer for the Centers for Birth Defects Research and Prevention and a Co-Principal Investigator for the Georgia study center. As the project officer for the CBDRP, Dr. Reefhuis coordinates the collaboration between the different centers who work together in the study. As one of the Georgia co-principal investigators, she works to make sure the Georgia site is interviewing as many women as we can. She also does research with the data and writes papers about the findings...Read More
 Sarah Tinker, PhD, is a Co-Principal Investigator for the Georgia study center. As a co-PI for the Georgia study center, Dr. Tinker is focused on the collection of high quality data from local study subjects. She works with those involved in case and control identification, interviewing, and cheek cell collection to ensure that the process is running smoothly…Read More
Local Activities and Research:
Prospective Study of Children Born with Spina Bifida: The purpose of this project is to increase the knowledge about the natural history of spina bifida. The study will include children with spina bifida aged 3-5 years, and families will either complete a phone survey or an in-person interview. The study hopes to collect information relating to medical concerns prevalent among children with spina bifida, development and learning, nutrition and physical growth, mobility and functioning, general health, and family demographics.
Stillbirth Surveillance Pilot Project: CDC has initiated stillbirth surveillance activities in its own system and has provided funding to the Iowa Department of Public Health to conduct these activities as part of its birth defects surveillance system. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of expanding the birth defects surveillance system to incorporate data on all stillbirths, those with and without identifiable malformations, among residents in the study population; to monitor and report on the occurrence of stillbirths in the population; to serve as a registry for hypotheses driven etiologic studies on stillbirth; and to serve as a resource for education and evaluation of targeted prevention strategies.
Partners:
Molecular Genetics Laboratory, National Center for Environmental Health, CDC
Georgia Department of Health
March of Dimes
Abt Associates
Recent Publications:
Broussard CS, Rasmussen SA, Reefhuis J, Friedman JM, Jann MW, Riehle-Colarusso T, Honein MA; National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Maternal treatment with opioid analgesics and risk for birth defects. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2011 Apr;204(4):314.e1-314.e11.
Hartman RJ, Riehle-Colarusso T, Lin A, Frías JL, Patel SS, Duwe K, Correa A, Rasmussen SA; The National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Descriptive study of nonsyndromic atrioventricular septal defects in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2005. Am J Med Genet A. 2011 Feb 18. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.33874.
Alwan S, Reefhuis J, Rasmussen SA, Friedman JM, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Patterns of Antidepressant Medication Use Among Pregnant Women in a United States Population. Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 2010 Jul 27.
Alwan S, Reefhuis J, Botto LD, Rasmussen SA, Correa A, Friedman JM, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Maternal use of bupropion and risk for congenital heart defects. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2010. 203:52 e.1-6. Epub 2010 Apr 22.
Boulet S, Rasmussen S, Honein M and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Maternal Body Mass Index as a Risk Factor for Craniosynostosis. Am J Med Genet A. 2010; 152A(11):2895-7.
Duwe, Reefhuis, Honein, Schieve, Rasmussen, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Epidemiology of fertility treatment use among US women with liveborn infants, 1997-2004. Journal of Women’s Health. 2010. 19(3): 407-416. Epub 2010 Feb 2.
Fisk Green R, Devine O, Crider KS, Olney RS, Archer N, Olshan AF, Shapira SK, and the National Birth Defect Prevention Study. Association of Paternal Age and Risk for Major Congenital Anomalies from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2004. Annals of Epidemiology. 2010. 20(3):241-9. Epub 2010 Jan 6.
Gilboa SM, Correa A, Botto LD, Rasmussen SA, Waller DK, Hobbs, CA, Cleves MA, Riehle-Colarusso TJ, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Association between prepregnancy body mass index and congenital heart defects. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2010. 202:51.e1-10. Epub 2009 Sep 29.
Prakalapakorn SG, Rasmussen SA, Lambert SR, Honein MA, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Assessment of Risk Factors for Infantile Cataracts Using a Case-Control Study, National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 2000-2004. Ophthalmology. 2010 Apr 2.
Reefhuis J, Honein M, Schieve L, Rasmussen S and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Use of clomiphene citrate and birth defects, National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2005. Human Reproduction. 2010 Nov 26.
Tinker SC, Reefhuis J, Dellinger AM, Jamieson DJ; National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Epidemiology of maternal injuries during pregnancy in a population-based study, 1997-2005. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2010 Dec;19(12):2211-8.
van Gelder, M. M., J. Reefhuis, et al. Characteristics of pregnant illicit drug users and associations between cannabis use and perinatal outcome in a population-based study. Drug Alcohol Depend 2010. 109(1-3): 243-247. Epub Feb 23. |
