Interdisciplinary Research Award
Applicants: Sarah Mulkey, MD, PhD, Prenatal Pediatrics Institute, Children’s National Hospital
Madison Berl, PhD, Division of Pediatric Neuropsychology, Children’s National Hospital
Margarita Arroyave-Wessel, MPH, Telemedicine, Children’s National Hospital
Carlos Cure, MD and John Negret, PhD, Biomelab, Barranquilla, Colombia
Pablo Reyes, PhD, Hospital Universitario San Ignacio and Pontifica Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia
Project Objectives: The goal of this project is to determine the impact of COVID-19 on child cognitive and social-emotional development in low-risk Colombian children from rural and urban settings and the factors that influence outcome. The study will evaluate the impact of educational loss due to COVID-19 on the social and cognitive development of school-aged children in both rural and urban regions of Colombia.
Project Summary:
The COVID-19 pandemic generated massive interruptions to the education and social routines for developing children across the globe. With the continual need to understand global child health outcomes, it is necessary to address the universal exposure of COVID-19 that presents both a confounding element to the field of neurodevelopmental outcome research, and a pressing concern for the long-term cognitive and psychosocial wellbeing of pediatric populations. The duration of loss of school and the home educational environment varies based on the location in which a child resides, the parental education level, and impact of COVID-19 on the family. The study will utilize a unique telehealth approach to bring together a multidisciplinary team of investigators from Children’s National with a team of investigators in Colombia to evaluate child cognitive and social-emotional development in rural and urban cities.
