News
CRECE and PROTECT Participate in March of Dimes March for Babies Event in San Juan
On Sunday, June 26th, members of the CRECE and PROTECT Team participated in the March of Dimes March for Babies in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Chapter of the March of Dimes works to reduce the rate of preterm birth on the island, which in 2014 was 12% of...
CRECE and PROTECT Celebrate New Clinic Opening
On June 23rd and 24th, CRECE and PROTECT team members met in Puerto Rico for an in-person meeting and celebration of the opening of the new clinic in Manatí, Puerto Rico. For the first day, the group joined in a technical discussion with a strong focus on recruitment...
NIEHS Director Visits Northeastern University
On Monday, July 18th, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Director Dr. Linda Birnbaum visited Northeastern University. Northeastern has been working in partnership with NIEHS on a number of projects related to Environmental Health, a field...
CRECE and PROTECT to Study Zika in Pregnancy
On Friday, July 15th, CRECE and PROTECT received funding from the NIEHS to study the effect Zika has in Puerto Rico on pregnant women and their babies. This funding is part of the Zika Infants and Pregnancy (ZIP) study, which aims to enroll 10,000 women from 5...
Dr. Huerta-Montañez Meets with CDC to Discuss Zika
On June 11, Dr. Gredia Huerta-Montañez met with Dr. Tom Frieden, Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), during his visit to Puerto Rico. The meeting was attended by Dr. Stephen Waterman (Chief of the CDC’s Dengue Branch), Dr. Francisco...
Dr. Gredia Huerta-Montanez Presents on Zika at CHPAC Meeting
On May 24-25, Dr. Gredia Huerta-Montanez (HSC, COTC) attended the Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC) meeting in Washington, DC, where she presented on the Zika virus. The CHPAC is an advisory board to the EPA that is composed of external...
CRECE and PROTECT Open New Clinic in Puerto Rico
In mid-April, CRECE and PROTECT (Puerto Rico Testsite for Exploring Contamination Threats) began seeing participants at a new clinic located in Manatí, Puerto Rico. The clinic is designed to create a safe, welcoming environment for our participants and their families,...
CRECE and PROTECT Provide Education on Zika Prevention
As peak mosquito season approaches, CRECE and PROTECT have continued to reach out to local communities to provide education on Zika virus prevention. Community Outreach and Translation Core members Dr. Carmen Vélez Vega, Dr. Gredia Huertas, Abigail Figueroa, and...
CRECE’s José Cordero and March of Dimes Push for Fortified Corn Masa Flour
On April 14th, the Food and Drug Administration agreed to permit the addition of folic acid—a B vitamin known to prevent birth defects—to corn masa flour. The announcement comes after four years of efforts by the March of Dimes and CRECE’s Co-Director Dr. José...
CDC Recommends DEET to Control Zika
The CDC recommends the use of DEET to protect people against the mosquito that carries the Zika virus, especially pregnant women. But there are very few published studies looking at the possible effects of DEET on unborn children, and none of the existing studies...