The Environmental Exposures in Lebanese Infants (EELI) birth cohort: an investigation into the Developmental Origins of Health and Diseases (DOHaD)

ABSTRACT

The EELI Study is a longitudinal birth cohort launched in 2021 in Lebanon to examine the long-term impact of environmental exposures on the health of prospective Lebanese mothers and infants and disease outcomes. This article delineates the adopted study design and protocols, current progress, and contextual considerations for the planning and launching of a birth cohort in a resource-limited setting. A sample of n = 135 pregnant women expecting to give birth at the Hôtel-Dieu de France University Hospital has been recruited since the study launch. Over 500 variables have been recorded for each participant, and over 1000 biological specimens have been processed and stored in a biobank for further analysis. The EELI study establishes methodological and logistic basis to explore the concept of the exposome and its implementation and to establish a toolkit of the SOPs and questionnaires that can be employed by the other countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

KEYWORDS:

• Birth outcomes
• exposure assessment
• pregnancy outcomes
• child health
• environmental health

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all the women who enrolled in our study and who are contributing to the production of the wealth of knowledge that the EELI study is able to generate for Lebanon and the region. We would also like to extend our acknowledgment to the entire EELI study team and those who contributed to the success of the study in the first year of its launch.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, MM. The data are not publicly available due to containing information that could compromise the privacy of the research participants.

Additional information

Funding

The research was made possible by an intramural fund from the University of Balamand. The work of Dr. Myriam Mrad is partially funded by an NIH Fogarty International Center grant (Reference number: [1U01TW012237-01].