Neighborhood and individual environmental risk factors in early life and -omics biomarkers for kidney function trajectories across childhood and adulthood

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and hypertension (HTN) are significant public health concerns. This research addresses the lack of understanding regarding prenatal and early life environmental determinants of reduced kidney function and HTN across childhood and early adulthood. The project will leverage high-quality data from Project Viva, an ongoing longitudinal prospective pre-birth cohort. The overall goals are to examine the extent to which early-life exposure to disadvantaged neighborhood contexts and nephrotoxicants (air pollutants and metals) leads to later life kidney dysfunction and higher blood pressure (BP). The investigators will: (Aim 1) examine associations of early-life neighborhood environment with kidney function and BP across childhood and early adulthood; (Aim 2) assess associations of individual-level early-life exposure to candidate nephrotoxicants with kidney function and BP from mid-childhood to early adulthood; and (Aim 3) characterize urinary proteomic signatures underlying altered kidney function and BP trajectory from childhood to early adulthood, and examine these signatures as potential markers of toxicant exposure.