The Foafoaga o le Ola Study

Beginning of Life

Overview

This longitudinal, observational study of mother-infant dyads aimed to identify factors in pregnancy and the early postpartum period that contribute to non-communicable diseases in Samoa.

Genomic data

  • CREBRF rs373863828
  • Untargeted metabolomic data
  • PFAS data

Eligibility

Eligible mothers were over 18 years old, between 35-41 weeks gestation, with uncomplicated singleton pregnancies. They planned to give birth at TTM Hospital and lived within 30 minutes of Apia for ease of follow-up.

Study Dates

2017-2019

Ethics

Informed consent was obtained from all mothers. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Boards at Yale University, the University of Pittsburgh, and the Health Research Committee of Samoa.

Assessments

Bilingual Samoan research assistants conducted assessments of the mother-infant dyads at 1 week, 2 months, and 4 months post-birth. Some infants were reassessed at 24 months post-birth. Data on behavior, environment, physical measurements, and biospecimens (saliva, dried blood spots) were collected for later analysis.

Team

Nicola Hawley and Kendall Arslanian (MPI); Sakura Oyama (Ancillary Study PI); Lacey Heinsberg (Ancillary Study PI); Ulai T. Fidow, Rachel L. Duckham, Folla Unasa-Apelu, Christina Soti-Ulberg, Theresa Atanoa, Madison Rodman, Elise Claffey, Alysa Pomer (Co-Is)

Funding

  • K99HD107030
  • Sigma Nursing Honors Society
  • Heilbrunn Family Center for Nursing Research

Selected publications

  1. Arslanian KJ, Fidow UT, Atanoa T, Unasa-Apelu F, Naseri T, Wetzel AI, Pomer A, Duckham RL, McGarvey ST, Strayer JA, Kershaw EE, Weeks DE, Hawley NL. A missense variant in CREBRF, rs373863828, is associated with fat-free mass, not fat mass in Samoan infants. Int J Obes (Lond). 2021 Jan;45(1):45-55. doi: 10.1038/s41366-020-00659-4. Epub 2020 Sep 3. PMID: 32884101; PMCID: PMC8329753.

  2. Heinsberg LW, Niu S, Arslanian KJ, Chen R, Bedi M, Unasa-Apelu F, Fidow UT, Soti-Ulberg C, Conley YP, Weeks DE, Ng CA, Hawley NL. Characterization of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) concentrations in a community-based sample of infants from Samoa. Chemosphere. 2024 Apr;353:141527. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.141527. Epub 2024 Feb 22. PMID: 38401869; PMCID: PMC10997188.