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Researchers throughout the state and the country are working together to discover the causes of many serious birth defects. |
NEW: Texas Center Fact Sheet (91KB PDF, Viewing Information)
Also, National Fact Sheet (362KBB PDF, Viewing Information)
From EpiLink Online Bulletin:
To help reduce birth defects among U.S. babies, in 1996, Congress directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish the Centers for Birth Defects Research and Prevention (CBDRP). This directive was formalized with the passage of the Birth Defects Prevention Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-168). This act authorized CDC to 1) collect, analyze, and make available data on birth defects; 2) operate regional centers that will conduct applied epidemiologic research for the prevention of birth defects; and 3) provide the public with information on preventing birth defects. Currently, CDC has established centers in Arkansas, California, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Utah. The centers were established in states with existing birth defect programs that had nationally recognized expertise in birth defects surveillance and research.
The Texas Center was established in 1996 as a part of the Birth Defects Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch (BDES) of the Texas Department of State Health Services in Austin. The Center's mission is to conduct research studies to understand the causes of specific birth defects.
BDES was established in 1993 as the result of an unusual cluster of anencephaly cases (a type of neural tube defect) that occurred in Brownsville, Texas. Epidemiologic investigations revealed a higher than expected rate of neural tube defects among children born to Hispanic mothers living in South Texas. In recognition that epidemiologic resources are routinely needed to investigate birth defects clusters, the Texas State Legislature passed the Texas Birth Defects Act in 1993, which authorized the establishment of BDES.
Since 1994, BDES has maintained the Texas Birth Defects Registry, population-based birth defects surveillance system, which is now statewide. The Texas Center is in a unique position to contribute to our understanding of what causes birth defects, especially because of the 1200-mile shared border with Mexico. Health disparities between Texans living along the border with Mexico and those living in non-border areas have long been a concern for public health officials, as well as for those who live and work in the border counties. The majority of border residents are Hispanic and data from this area can be compared to other populations to isolate geographic versus ethnic factors. Since 1997, the Texas Center has contributed information about birth defects cases as well as from healthy “control” families in border counties to the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS). The study area for Texas is currently the area known as the Lower Rio Grande Valley, which encompasses Gulf Coast industrial cities such as Corpus Christi, as well as Cameron County, which has experienced some of the country’s highest neural tube defect rates and is at the continental U.S.’s south-most point.
Download the latest newsletter from the NBDPS:
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The Center's staff and collaborators have expertise in the epidemiology of neural tube defects and their associated risk factors, demographic risk factors for birth defects, epidemiology, survey research, and molecular genetics.
In addition to participating in NBDPS, the Texas Center is conducting other research projects and activities, including the following:
- Studying the interaction of metabolic, genetic, and environmental risk factors for certain birth defects of the brain and spinal cord.
- Examining the link between risk factors such as maternal diabetes, obesity, and dieting behaviors for neural tube defects.
- Studying the relationship between certain environmental factors and birth defects, such as:
- Hazardous waste sites
- Air pollution
- Pesticides
- Water disinfection byproducts
- Conducting and analyzing results from a telephone survey to examine women's knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to the prevention of birth defects, including folic acid supplementation and knowledge of alcohol and pregnancy.
- Analyzing the patterns and risk factors associated with oral clefts and clubfoot in Texas.
Texas Center's Partners
- Texas A&M University, Public Policy Research Institute
- Texas A&M University System Health Science Center
- Institute of Biotechnology
- School of Rural Public Health
- University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
- University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston
- University of Texas Medical School at Houston
- Baylor College of Medicine
- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
- Texas State University – San Marcos
- Texas Department of State Health Services, Health Screening Branch