Publications by authors named "M Burjak"
Background: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) regulates over 80 contaminants in community water systems (CWS), including those relevant to infant health outcomes. Multi-cohort analyses of the association between measured prenatal public water contaminant concentrations and infant health outcomes are sparse in the US.
Objective: Our objectives were to (1) develop Zip Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA)-level CWS contaminant concentrations for participants in the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort and (2) evaluate regional, seasonal, and sociodemographic inequities in contaminant concentrations at the ZCTA-level.
Background: In the United States, disparities in gestational age at birth by maternal race, ethnicity, and geography are theorized to be related, in part, to differences in individual- and neighborhood-level socioeconomic status (SES). Yet, few studies have examined their combined effects or whether associations vary by maternal race and ethnicity and United States Census region.
Methods: We assembled data from 34 cohorts in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program representing 10,304 participants who delivered a liveborn, singleton infant from 2000 through 2019.
Article Synopsis
- The prevalence of obesity among US youths aged 2 to 19 was 19.3% from 2017 to 2018, and previous studies linked school lunches to increased obesity rates, prompting the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) to enhance nutritional standards for school meals.
- This study aimed to assess the impact of the HHFKA on youth body mass index (BMI) by analyzing data from a national cohort of children aged 5 to 18 over a period from January 2005 to March 2020.
- Results indicated that after the HHFKA's implementation, there was a significant decrease in annual BMI z-scores, particularly among youths aged 12 to
Background: American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) women with estrogen receptor-positive (ER +) breast cancer have higher mortality compared to non-Hispanic whites (NHW). The purpose of this study is to compare rates of initiation of endocrine therapy (ET) between AI/AN and NHW and further determine survival outcomes for ER + breast cancer.
Methods: We used the National Cancer Database to identify patients diagnosed with ER + breast cancer, stage I-III, between 2004 and 2017.
Article Synopsis
- This study investigated the link between prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and autism-related traits in children using data from 1,429 participants across 10 cohorts in the NIH-funded ECHO program.
- The analysis showed that most PFAS in maternal blood had no significant association with child autism traits, but higher levels of perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) were linked to increased autism-related traits.
- The findings suggest a potential connection between PFNA levels during pregnancy and modest increases in autism traits, indicating the need for further research on various PFAS and their impacts on child development.