Louisiana Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes, ECHO, Collaboration Secures Federal Funding Renewal

Oct. 31, 2025 · Baton Rouge, LA

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Louisiana ECHO is one of 19 to receive National Institutes of Health funding renewal. Collaboration includes Pennington Biomedical, Ochsner Health System, Tulane University, LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans and Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital. 

Louisiana’s Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes, or ECHO program, has secured a share of $13 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, or NIH. The award, which is for the program’s third award cycle, will support its efforts and research for five years. 

Founded in 2016, Louisiana’s ECHO program unites researchers from Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Ochsner Health System, Tulane University, and LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans with leading pediatric clinicians at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital in New Orleans. This collaboration brings together research capabilities and two free-standing children’s hospitals in the state, with a third under construction. 

“On behalf of everyone here who works for and supports Louisiana’s ECHO program, we are immensely proud to receive this funding renewal for cycle 3,” said Dr. Amanda Staiano, Associate Professor of Pediatric Obesity and Health Behavior and the co-principal investigator for Louisiana's ECHO program along with Dr. John Carlson of Ochsner Health. “Louisiana’s children are affected by many health problems at a higher rate compared to other states. This award will sustain our efforts to expand access to cutting-edge research for more children in Louisiana.”

The grant renewal application was submitted to the NIH by leading researchers from the partnering health care and research institutes, co-led by Drs. Staiano and Carlson along with co-investigator Dr. Katie Queen from Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health, co-investigator Dr. Margot Anderson of Tulane University, and early career scientist Dr. Christina Juge-Gomez, a neonatologist at Ochsner Health System. 

“The first two cycles of the ISPCTN have provided opportunities for children and families to participate in important national research and helped to train strong teams doing medical research here in our state,” said Dr. Carlson. “Inclusion in a third cycle allows our team to continue this important work.”

Louisiana is one of 23 states identified as an IDeA-eligible state, or a state positioned to receive Institutional Development Awards from the NIH due in part to its historically low levels of NIH funding. The Louisiana ECHO program, anchored at Pennington Biomedical in partnership with Ochsner Health, is Louisiana’s site of the IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network. The ECHO program prioritizes clinical trials that focus on five focus areas: pre-, peri- and postnatal outcomes; obesity; upper and lower airways; neurodevelopment; and positive health.

“Securing this competitive five-year renewal demonstrates the NIH's confidence in Pennington Biomedical's leadership and the strength of our research partnerships across Louisiana," said Dr. John Kirwan, Executive Director of Pennington Biomedical. "This funding positions us to train the next generation of pediatric researchers and ensures discoveries made here benefit children everywhere, a mission I'm deeply committed to advancing.”

With the award funds, the Louisiana ECHO collaborators aim to continue facilitating the multi-center research trials, ensuring that Louisiana children have access to these trials and their families receive the findings. The network also plans to expand its clinical trial research capacity and engage local communities, including professional societies and nonprofit organizations, to extend the impact and transferability of their findings. The renewed funding will help ensure more Louisiana children can participate in clinical trials and benefit from discoveries that improve health nationwide.