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:
Caspers K, Oltean C, Romitti P, Sun L, Pober B, Rasmussen S, Yang W, Druschel C and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Maternal periconceptional exposure to cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption and congenital diaphragmatic hernia. BDRA. 2010 Dec;88(12):1040-9.
Schmidt R, Romitti P, Burns T, Murray J, Browne M, Druschel C, Olney R, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Caffeine, Selected Metabolic Gene Variants, and Risk of Neural Tube Defects. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2010 Jul;88(7):560-9.
Schmidt RJ, Romitti PA, Burns TL, Murray JC, Druschel C, Browne M, Olney RS, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Maternal caffeine consumption and neural tube defects. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2009 85:879-89.
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