Key Dates

Related Announcements

None

Issued by

Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health (OD)

Purpose

This RFI seeks input from interested parties from scientific research, advocacy, and clinical practice communities, as well as the general public, regarding ECHO’s strategic priorities through calendar year 2029.

NOTE: It is important for respondents to read this entire RFI notice to prepare adequate responses and to better understand how NIH will use responses.

Background

In 2016, the NIH launched the nationwide ECHO Program. Its mission is to enhance the health of children for generations to come. To achieve this mission, ECHO investigators study the effects of a broad range of early environmental influences on five child health outcome areas with high public health impact: pre-, peri- and postnatal outcomes; upper and lower airways; obesity; neurodevelopment; and positive health, or well-being.

The ECHO Program supports both observational and intervention research. ECHO's observational research allows investigators to follow children from before birth through adolescence to learn about relationships between environmental factors and ECHO’s five health outcome areas.

ECHO’s intervention research allows investigators to test carefully designed interventions, particularly among rural or underserved pediatric populations, to enhance children’s health in at least one of ECHO’s five health outcome areas.

The NIH is inviting interested parties from across the scientific research, advocacy, and clinical practice communities, as well as the general public, to offer potential observational and intervention research priorities that ECHO can consider during its upcoming strategic planning process. NIH also invites comments on potential strategic operational and capacity-building priorities to expand ECHO’s ability to enable high-impact research and to serve as a national research resource. NIH encourages respondents to address diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility within each request about ECHO’s strategic priorities.

Below respondents can find additional context about each of the requests, as well as information about how to respond.

The NIH seeks comments on any or all of, but not limited to, the following requests:

I. Observational Research Priorities

Request: Please comment on potential observational research priorities within the environmental domains and ECHO’s five health outcome areas, listed below, that the ECHO Program can consider as it sets its strategic research priorities through calendar year 2029.

Context: For its observational research, NIH launched the ECHO Cohort Consortium in 2016. The Consortium is currently following its existing participants in addition to recruiting new pregnant participants at Cohort Study Sites geographically distributed nationwide.

With support from a Coordinating Center, Data Analysis Center, Measurement Core, and Laboratory Core, investigators from ECHO Cohort Study Sites lead collaborative ECHO Cohort science. The Cohort Study Sites share data they collect from more than 60,000 children plus their family members, from preconception through adolescence. Some Cohort Study Sites are following already enrolled children through late childhood and adolescence. Other Cohort Study Sites are recruiting new pregnant participants and following their children. Those Cohort Study Sites are also following the parent(s) during the postpartum period to examine how preconception exposures may influence child health outcomes in subsequent pregnancies. Throughout the study, participants provide data and biospecimens that address multiple environmental domains:

• Societal
• Physical and chemical
• Medical
• Psychosocial
• Behavioral
• Biological

..in relation to ECHO’s five health outcome areas:

• Pre-, peri- and postnatal outcomes
• Upper and lower airways
• Obesity and its consequences
• Neurodevelopment
• Positive health

NIH encourages respondents to address diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility within this request about ECHO’s observational research priorities, including ways to enhance health equity and reduce health disparities.

II. Intervention Research Priorities

Request: Please comment on potential priorities of intervention research within the types of trials listed below, as they apply to ECHO’s five health outcome areas, that the ECHO Program can consider as it sets its strategic research priorities through calendar year 2029.

Context: For its intervention research, NIH launched the ECHO Institutional Development Award (IDeA) States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network (ISPCTN) in 2016. The ECHO ISPCTN helps address disparities in pediatric research by including children from rural or underserved populations in clinical trials. It also builds pediatric research capacity in states with historically low rates of NIH funding. The Network is currently implementing several multi-center pediatric clinical trials at its Clinical Sites in 18 IDeA-eligible States.

With support from a Data Coordinating and Operations Center, investigators from the Clinical Sites propose, develop, and conduct multi-center pediatric clinical trials that relate to the prevention or treatment of conditions in ECHO’s five health outcome areas. Of particular interest to the ECHO ISPCTN are trials to address

• Intervention refinement and optimization
• Intervention efficacy and effectiveness
• Pragmatic interventions
• Interventions that span primary care and population health, e.g.,
  • In the primary care setting
  • Affecting primary care delivery
  • Influencing population health

NIH encourages respondents to address diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility within this request about ECHO’s intervention research priorities, including ways to enhance health equity and reduce health disparities.

III. Operational and Capacity-building Priorities

Request: Please comment on potential operational and capacity-building priorities that ECHO can consider as it sets its strategic priorities through calendar year 2029.

Context: To enhance its return on investment, NIH aims to expand ECHO’s ability to enable high-impact research and to serve as a national resource for pediatric research. Examples of domains on which respondents may comment include, but are not limited to

1. How ECHO can enhance access to its deidentified data and biospecimens among the broader scientific community
2. How ECHO can better engage end users from the scientific research, advocacy, and clinical practice communities, as well as study participants and their families, to enhance its scientific questions, study design, study implementation, and dissemination of research results to inform programs, policies, and practices
3. How ECHO can strengthen its commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility of ECHO’s study participant populations, including but not limited to strategies that address recruitment, retention, and participant engagement of underrepresented populations
4. How ECHO can improve its efforts to develop and strengthen the skills, experience, and inclusivity of the scientific workforce

How to Submit a Response:

Respondents must submit comments electronically as follows:

• Email: NIHKidsandEnvironment@od.nih.gov
• Subject: ECHO RFI 2024
• Reply on or before Friday, May 31, 2024

Important Note:

Responses to this RFI Notice are voluntary. NIH will not consider submitted information confidential. Responses are welcome from associations and professional organizations as well as individuals. This RFI is for planning purposes only and respondents should not construe these requests as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Federal Government, the National Institutes of Health, or individual NIH Institutes, Centers, of Offices. The NIH will use the information submitted in response to this RFI at its discretion. NIH will analyze the information submitted and may share it internally or in reports. The information may or may not be reflected in future solicitations, as appropriate and at the Government’s discretion. NIH advises respondents that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information provided and will not provide feedback to respondents.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries by email to: NIHKidsandEnvironment@od.nih.gov