Large NWA-ORC grant of 2.6 million euro for research into reducing early life stress and its adverse effects

The consortium of the research project ‘Healthy EArly Life Start (HEALS) Applied: optimizing opportunities to reduce early life stress and its adverse effects in routine preventive healthcare in the first 1000 days of life' received an NWA-ORC (Dutch Research Agenda – Research along Routes) grant of 2.6 million euro. Carolina de Weerth is co-applicant from Radboudumc and is leader of Work Package 2 (WP2)

The first 1000 days from conception onwards shape people’s life. Early life stress (ELS) in the first 1000 days is known to have detrimental lifelong effects on development and health. Stressors include maltreatment, but also chronic moderate ones, like family instability and unemployment, often unnoticed at early stages but affecting about 1 in 8 children. Healthy EArly Life Start (HEALS) Applied aims to address cluster question 059 of the NWA route: “Child and adolescent development, upbringing and education” by helping “children and adolescents grow up safe and healthy”.

HEALS addresses this challenge by co-creating with parents and professionals tools to better detect (increased risks of) early life stress (ELS) and decision aids to better intervene on ELS and its consequences in the first 1000 days. This will enable better use of the national high-reach infrastructure for prevention in early life, i.e. obstetric and preventive child healthcare. In particular, HEALS Applied’s work-package WP1 supports co-creation throughout the project to maximize reach and acceptability among vulnerable groups, and pilots detection tools and decision aids in routine preventive care.

WP2 determines modifiable pathways from ELS to adverse outcomes, identifies markers for detection of ELS, and estimates potential benefits. WP3 yields enriched ELS detection tools consisting of questionnaires, observations, and wearables, that can be easily used in preventive healthcare. WP4 develops evidence-based decision aids for better use of existing effective interventions to reduce ELS and its consequences. HEALS Applied combines profound expertise on co-creation and reaching vulnerable groups, on biological and psychosocial pathways, and on detection, parenting support and evaluation, with a strong network in obstetric and preventive child healthcare, and policy. It utilises excellent community-based datasets, state-of-the-art wearables, biomarkers, and evaluation techniques. HEALS Applied will provide game-changing personalized approaches allowing timely prevention of the detrimental effects of ELS, improving lifelong development and health.

About HEALS Applied

'Healthy EArly Life Start (HEALS) Applied: optimizing opportunities to reduce early life stress and its adverse effects in routine preventive healthcare in the first 1000 days of life'

Too much stress in the first 1000 days, from pregnancy to 2 years, can be harmful for life. HEALS Applied aims to detect such stress in young children at an early stage, and where necessary support the parents. HEALS Applied combines knowledge about co-creation and stress with the excellent Dutch preventive care during pregnancy and at well-child care, and develops new methods for early detection of harmful stress. HEALS Applied thus contributes to healthy and safe growing up of children, and provides new knowledge about stress; about sensors and biomarkers; about better support for parents; and about application in preventive care

About NWA-ORC 

This science-encompassing funding round is aimed at making interdisciplinary research and innovation possible, so that scientific and societal breakthroughs come within reach. In the annual NWA-ORC funding round, consortia can submit proposals that provide a joint expression of the breadth and innovative character of the NWA. The funding round is aimed at facilitating research that leads to societal and/or scientific breakthroughs. The consortia are interdisciplinary and knowledge-chain-wide; relevant societal partners are also represented. The proposals concern one or more NWA routes.

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