Study Center
The Iowa Center collaborates with the Iowa Registry for Congenital and Inherited Disorders (IRCID) to identify children with birth defects in Iowa. Since 1983, the Iowa Registry has monitored birth defects in all 99 Iowa counties. The Iowa Center was established in 1996 and enrolls families statewide in the NBDPS. Iowa families have been very willing to participate in the NBDPS. This participation provides the opportunity to study risk factors for birth defects among a rural population.
Principal Investigator:
Paul Romitti, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the College of Public Health at The University of Iowa. Dr. Romitti is the Director of the Iowa Registry for Congenital and Inherited Disorders. He oversees the Iowa Center and directs the interview and sample collection and epidemiologic and gene-environment data analyses for the Center. Dr. Romitti also leads the NBDPS research group to study the effects of tobacco, alcohol, caffeine and illicit drugs on birth defects and is examining the impact of pesticide exposure on birth defects...Read More
Local Activities and Research:
- Study interactions between tobacco and alcohol use and nutrition as risk factors for birth defects
- Identify possible genetic risk factors for orofacial clefts
- Examine the link between pesticide exposure and birth defects
- Study the effects of compounds in drinking water and birth defects
- Understand the long-term outcomes among children with birth defects
Partners:
Iowa Chapter of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
Iowa Department of Public Health
Iowa Regional Genetic Consultation Services
The University of Iowa Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination
Recent Publications:
Rocheleau CM, Bertke SJ, Lawson CC, Romitti PA, Sanderson WT, Malik S, Lupo PJ, Desrosiers TA, Bell E, Druschel C, Correa A, Reefhuis J, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Maternal occupational pesticide exposure and risk of congenital heart defects in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol (In Press)
Zhu Y, Romitti PA, Caspers Conway KM, Shen DH, Sun L, Browne ML, Botto LD, Lin AE, Druschel CM, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Maternal periconceptional alcohol consumption and congenital heart defects. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol (In Press)
Caspers Conway KM, Romitti PA, Holmes L, Olney RS, Richardson SD, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Maternal periconceptional alcohol consumption and congenital limb deficiencies. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2014 Nov;100(11):863-76.
Makelarski JA, Romitti PA, Rocheleau CM, Burns TL, Stewart PA, Waters MA, Lawson CC, Bell EM, Lin S, Shaw GM, Olney RS, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Maternal periconceptional occupational pesticide exposure and neural tube defects. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2014 Nov;100(11):877-86.
Kancherla V, Romitti PA, Sun L, Carey JC, Burns TL, Siega-Riz AM, Druschel CM, Lin AE, Olney RS, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Descriptive and risk factor analysis for choanal atresia: The National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2007. Eur J Med Genet. 2014 Apr;57(5):220-9.
Caspers KM, Romitti PA, Lin S, Olney RS, Holmes LB, Werler MM, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Maternal periconceptional exposure to cigarette smoking and congenital limb deficiencies. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2013 Nov;27(6):509-20.
Makelarski JA, Romitti PA, Sun L, Burns TL, Druschel CM, Suarez L, Olshan AF, Siega-Riz AM, Olney RS, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Periconceptional maternal alcohol consumption and neural tube defects. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2013 Mar;97(3):152-60.
Patel SS, Burns TL, Botto LD, Riehle-Colarusso TJ, Lin AE, Shaw GM, Romitti PA, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Analysis of selected maternal exposures and non-syndromic atrioventricular septal defects in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2005. Am J Med Genet A. 2012 Oct;158A(10):555-64.
Rocheleau CM, Romitti PA, Hockett Sherlock S, Sanderson WT, Bell EM, Druschel CM. Effect of survey instrument on participation: a randomization study of a mailed questionnaire versus a computer-assisted telephone interview. BMC Public Health. 2012 Jul;12:579.
Rocheleau CM, Romitti PA, Sanderson WT, Lawson CC, Sun L, Waters MA, Stewart PA, Reefhuis J, Olney RS, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Maternal occupational pesticide exposure and risk of hypospadias in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2011 Nov;91(11):927-36.
Caspers KM, Oltean C, Romitti PA, Sun L, Pober BR, Rasmussen SA, Yang W, Druschel C; National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Maternal periconceptional exposure to cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption and congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2010 Dec;88(12):1040-49.
Schmidt RJ, Romitti PA, Burns TL, Murray JC, Browne ML, Druschel CM, Olney RS; National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Caffeine, selected metabolic gene variants, and risk for neural tube defects. Birth Defects Res Part A Clin Mol Teratol. 2010 July;88(7):560-69.
Schmidt RJ, Romitti PA, Burns TL, Browne ML, Druschel CM, Olney RS; National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Maternal caffeine consumption and risk of neural tube defects. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2009 Nov;85(11):879-89.
Wong-Gibbons DL, Romitti PA, Sun L, Moore CA, Reefhuis J, Bell EM, Olshan AF. Maternal periconceptional exposure to cigarette smoking and alcohol and esophageal atresia +/- tracheo-esophageal fistula. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2008 Nov;82(11):776-84.
Romitti PA, Sun L, Honein MA, Reefhuis J, Correa A, Rasmussen SA. Maternal periconceptional alcohol consumption and risk of orofacial clefts. Am J Epidemiol 2007 Oct;166(7):775-85.
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