Origins of the Human Genome Project

Dr. Cook-Deegan recounts some of the scientific and political history leading to controversy about the proper mix of private and public roles in pursuing genome research and bringing its fruits to bear, e.g., in preventing and curing disease

Patenting Nature: What Ruling in Myriad Case Means for Biotechnology and DNA Diagnostics

Editorial in 'The Cancer Letter', written by Professor Robert Cook-Deegan. This article was included in background materials provided at the September, 2011 Congressional briefing

Gender and Health Behavior Clustering among U.S. Young Adults

U.S. trends in population health suggest alarming disparities among young adults who are less healthy across most measureable domains than their counterparts in other high-income countries; these international comparisons are particularly troubling for women. To deepen our understanding of gender disparities in health and underlying behavioral contributions, we document gender-specific clusters of health behavior among U.S. young adults using nationally representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. We find high levels of poor health behavior, but especially among men; 40 percent of men clustered into a group characterized by unhealthy behavior (e.g., poor diet, no exercise, substance use), compared to only 22 percent of women. Additionally, women tend to age out of unhealthy behaviors in young adulthood more than men. Further, we uncover gender differences in the extent to which sociodemographic position and adolescent contexts inform health behavior clustering. For example, college education was more protective for men, whereas marital status was equally protective across gender. Parental drinking mattered for health behavior clustering among men, whereas peer drinking mattered for clustering among women. We discuss these results in the context of declining female advantage in U.S. health and changing young adult social and health contexts

Anthropometrics

This document summarizes the rationale, equipment, measurement, protocol and data cleaning procedures for each of the anthropometric measures collected at Wave V. It also documents how constructed variables were derived from the anthropometric measures collected in the field. Whenever possible, data collection and methods in Wave V mirrored those of Wave IV to ensure comparability of data between waves. This document is one in a set of Wave V user guides

Medication Use - Biomarker Home Exam

This document summarizes the rationale, equipment, measurement, and protocol procedures for the medication inventories collected during Wave V. It also documents the protocol for assigning therapeutic classes to those medications. Whenever possible, data collection and methods in Wave V mirrored those of Wave IV to ensure comparability of data between waves. This document is one in a set of Wave V user guides

Amici Brief of Certain Academics in Law, Medicine, Health Policy, and Clinical Genetics in Support of Petitioners

Brief of Amici Curiae ("friend of the court") submitted by certain academics in law, medicine, health policy, and clinical genetics in support of petitioners on petition for a Writ of Certiorari (No. 11-725

Depressive Symptoms in The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health)

Depressive symptoms are common, affecting an estimated 18.5% of adults in the United States (US) in a recent two-week period (Villarroel and Terlizzi 2020). The prevalence of depressive symptoms rose sharply among US adolescents and young adults between 2012 and 2018 (Keyes et al. 2019) and tripled among adults ages 18 and over from 2019 to 2020 during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (Ettman et al. 2020). The burden of depressive symptoms is also unequally distributed across the US population, such that some sociodemographic groups tend to experience higher depressive symptom levels than others. This data brief highlights the utility of using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to study depressive symptoms among US adults

Wide Educational Disparities in Young Adult Cardiovascular Health

Widening educational differences in overall health and recent stagnation in cardiovascular disease mortality rates highlight the critical need to describe and understand educational disparities in cardiovascular health (CVH) among U.S. young adults. We use two data sets representative of the U.S. population to examine educational disparities in CVH among young adults (24–34) coming of age in the 21st century: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2005–2010; N= 689) and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (2007–2008; N=11,200). We employ descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The results show that fewer than one in four young adults had good CVH (at least 5 out of 7 ideal cardiovascular indicators). Young adults who had not attained a college degree demonstrate particularly disadvantaged CVH compared with their college-educated peers. Such educational disparities persist after accounting for a range of confounders, including individuals’ genetic propensity to develop coronary artery disease. The results indicate that the CVH of today’s young adults is troubling and especially compromised for individuals with lower levels of educational attainment. These results generate substantial concern about the future CVH of the US population, particularly for young adults with a low level of education

Wave V Birth Records Database – Release 1

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) is a longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of over 20,000 adolescents who were in grades 7-12 during the 1994-95 school year, and have been followed for five waves to date, most recently in 2016-18 (see Harris et al. 2019 for more information about the study). The Add Health Birth Records Database describes the birth event of Add Health sample members (AHSMs), born between 1974 and 1983. This database was constructed using birth certificate information and birth data of AHSMs reported by AHSMs and their parents. The Birth Records Database represents a subset of the larger Add Health study sample and is composed of AHSMs consenting to Add Health’s use of their birth record data and born in states with agreements to make birth record data available to Add Health

Renal Function

This document summarizes the rationale, equipment, protocol, assay, internal quality control, data cleaning, external quality control, and procedures for the measurement and classification of kidney (renal) function at the Wave V home exam. Whenever possible, data collection and methods in Wave V mirrored those of Wave IV to ensure comparability of data between waves, although important inter-Wave differences exist and are grey highlighted herein. This document is one in a set of Wave V user guides