Study Center
The Division of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides technical and administrative oversight to the Centers for Birth Defects Research and Prevention (CBDRP). CDC also coordinates the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS) data management and analyses and serves as the Georgia study site. CDC brings a lot of experience, like studying medication use among pregnant women and finding new ways to look at the data. In addition, CDC keeps track of birth defects in Atlanta through the Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Program (MACDP). MACDP has collected data in Atlanta since 1968 and serves as a model for other state surveillance systems.
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:
 CDC Scientific Lead: Dr. Elizabeth Ailes is the Scientific Lead for the collaborative BD-STEPS Centers for Birth Defects Research and Prevention (CBDRP) and the Principal Investigator (PI) of the Georgia Center. Dr. Ailes works with a team of computer programmers, communication specialists, and other scientists that coordinate the overall study logistics and combine the data from the seven Centers. In her role as the Georgia Center PI, she focuses on the collection of high quality data from local study subjects. Dr. Ailes’ research focus is on infections and medication use and their relation to birth defects.
 CDC Birth Defects Monitoring and Research Branch, Epidemiology Team Lead:
Mary Jenkins, PhD, is the Epidemiology Team Lead in the Birth Defects Monitoring and Prevention Branch, where the CBDRP are housed. She manages the study staff and provides oversight to all aspects of the studyDr. Jenkins’ research interests include understanding the roles that genetics and gene-environment interactions play in the causes of birth defects, as well as understanding ethical issues in genetic research and the impact of specimen collection on these studies
 CDC Birth Defects Monitoring and Research Branch Chief: Jennita Reefhuis, PhD, is the Chief of the Birth Defects Monitoring and Research Branch at CDC. Dr. Reefhuis was the Principal Investigator and Project Officer of the CBDRP from 2006-2018. She is involved in the oversight of the study and continues to conduct research with NBDPS data.
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Partners:
Molecular Genetics Laboratory, National Center for Environmental Health, CDC
Georgia Department of Health
March of Dimes
Abt Associates
Recent Publications:
Anderson KN, Dutton AC, Broussard CS, Farr SL, Lind JN, Visser SN, Ailes EC, Shapira SK, Reefhuis J, Tinker SC. ADHD medication use during pregnancy and risk for selected birth defects: National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1998-2011. J Atten Disord 2018. 1087054718759753
Interrante JD, Ailes EC, Lind JN, Anderka M, Feldkamp ML, Werler MM, Taylor LG, Trinidad J, Gilboa SM, Broussard CS. Risk comparison for prenatal use of analgesics and selected birth defects, National Birth Defects Prevention Study 1997-2011. Ann Epidemiol 2017;27:645-653.e2.
Simeone RM, Tinker SC, Gilboa SM, Agopian AJ, Oster ME, Devine OJ, Honein MA. Proportion of selected congenital heart defects attributable to recognized risk factors. Ann Epidemiol 2016;26:838-845.
Dawson AL, Tinker SC, Jamieson DJ, Hobbs CA, Berry RJ, Rasmussen SA, Anderka M, Keppler-Noreuil KM, Lin AE, Reefhuis J. Twinning and major birth defects, National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2007. J Epidemiol Community Health 2016;70:1114-1121.
Ailes EC, Gilboa SM, Gill SK, Broussard CS, Crider KS, Berry RJ, Carter TC, Hobbs CA, Interrante JD, Reefhuis J. Association between antibiotic use among pregnant women with urinary tract infections in the first trimester and birth defects, National Birth Defects Prevention Study 1997 to 2011. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol 2016;106:940-949.
Arth A, Tinker S, Moore C, Canfield M, Agopian A, Reefhuis J. Supplement use and other characteristics among pregnant women with a previous pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect-United States, 1997-2009. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2015 Jan 16;64(1):6-9.
Rocheleau CM, Bertke SJ, Lawson CC, Romitti PA, Sanderson WT, Malik S, Lupo PJ, Desrosiers TA, Bell E, Druschel C, Correa A, Reefhuis J. Maternal occupational pesticide exposure and risk of congenital heart defects in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol 2015;106:823-33.
Reefhuis J, Devine O, Friedman JM, Louik C, Honein M. Specific SSRIs and birth defects: Bayesian analysis to interpret new data in the context of previous reports. BMJ 2015;351:h3190 |
