On Wednesday, St. Louis will get a progress report on local participation in the .
The study 鈥� which is currently in a pilot phase 鈥� will examine how environmental factors affect the health and development of more than a 100,000 children nationwide, by tracking them from before birth to age 21.
Local study leader, epidemiologist Louise Flick of Saint Louis University, says since last December, between 100 and 150 women in St. Louis have signed up to have their children participate.
Flick says women who live in St. Louis .
鈥淎ny woman who wants to find out if she鈥檚 eligible and would like to participate can call us,鈥� Flick said. 鈥淏ut they need to be either pregnant or planning to get pregnant, and they have to live in one of the 15 small geographic areas in the City that have been selected for recruiting.鈥�
Flick says , testing door-to-door recruitment methods.
She says that at , she鈥檒l be looking for input on how to inform people about the study and increase participation.
鈥淗ow we engage the community, prepare the community, inform people ahead of time so that we鈥檙e not catching them cold when we ask if they鈥檙e interested in participating,鈥� Flick said.
will take place from 4 to 6:30 p.m. on Wed., Nov. 2 at Il Monastero, 3050 Olive St. in St. Louis.
