November 2005 Study Assembly Meeting Announcement 

Please join us for the next Study Assembly meeting on “Implementing the National Children’s Study: Scientific Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities,” November 29-30, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. Study Assembly meetings are open to anyone from the scientific community and general public who is interested in learning more about the progress of the Study.

National Children’s Study planners have been developing the Study design for framing the Study and conducting methods development efforts, pilot studies, and workshops to refine the protocol. This preparation has laid the groundwork to implement the Study throughout the United States. This Study Assembly meeting will focus on scientific progress to date, introduction of the Vanguard Centers and Coordinating Center, and the challenges and opportunities in this unprecedented study of the effects of the environment on child health and development.

• Introduction of the Vanguard Centers and Coordinating Center
• Update on Protocol Development
• The North Carolina Herald Study
• The International Childhood Cancer Cohort Consortium Initiative
• Posters and Breakout Sessions on Scientific Progress to Date (see below)
• Scientific, Ethical, and Design Challenges and Opportunities in the Study

• Biological and Psychosocial Exposures
• Chemical and Physical Exposures
• Pregnancy Outcomes, Growth, and Physical Development
• Neurodevelopmental Outcomes
• Community Engagement: Recruitment and Retention
• IT Issues and Data Collection
• International Collaboration

Talk with Study planners and researchers about the goals, methods, and challenges to be addressed in the National Children’s Study.