The Heartland Study

June 25, 2025 updated by: Heartland Health Research Alliance

Children's Health in the Heartland Study

The Heartland Study is a prospective, observational study that will enroll up to 2,600 pregnant participants across the Heartland States in the U.S..

The objective of the Heartland Study is to address major knowledge gaps concerning the health effects of herbicides on maternal and infant health. The study is being conducted to evaluate the associations between environmental exposures to herbicides during and after pregnancy and reproductive health outcomes. The study is measuring multiple biomarkers of herbicide exposure among pregnant Midwesterners and their partners to evaluate associations with pregnancy and childbirth outcomes, epigenetic biomarkers of exposure, and child development.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Detailed Description

During Phase 1 of the Study, newly pregnant mothers will be enrolled less than or equal to 20 weeks + 6 days gestation and followed through to the end of pregnancy. Prenatal urine and buccal (cheek) samples will be collected to measure urinary herbicide exposure levels and to identify herbicide induced epigenetic biomarkers. Pregnancy outcomes and fetal health will be documented and analyzed to further investigate potential effects of fetal exposure. Indirect measures such as food and beverage consumption, workplace and household related chemical exposures, substance use, residential proximity to agricultural fields, and socioeconomic factors will be captured from questionnaires.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
2600

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: Kathleen Flannery
  • Phone Number: 317-880-3961
  • Email: kamaflan@iu.edu

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Indiana
      • Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 46202
        • Recruiting
        • Indiana University Medical Center
        • Principal Investigator:
          • David Haas, MD
        • Contact:
    • Iowa
      • Iowa City, Iowa, United States, 52242
        • Recruiting
        • University of Iowa Health Care
        • Contact:
          • Donna Santillan, PhD
        • Contact:
    • Wisconsin
      • La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States, 54601
        • Completed
        • Gundersen Health
      • Marshfield, Wisconsin, United States, 54449

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants must live in one of the 13 Heartland states at the time of enrollment: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant persons ages 18 or older at time of consent who are ≤20+6 weeks pregnant. Best clinical estimate of gestational age will be utilized for recruitment purposes. Enrollment in the first trimester (≤ 13 + 6) is preferred, but anyone ≤ 20 +6 is permitted.
  • Living in one of the 13 Heartland Study region states at the time of enrollment (Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, or Wisconsin) Optional inclusion of the putative biological father

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants who are not fluent in and/or do not fully understand, read, write, or speak the English language.
  • Other inability to provide informed consent to participate

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Cohort
  • Time Perspectives: Prospective

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pregnancy loss
Time Frame: Enrollment to birth
Number of participants who experience a pregnancy loss
Enrollment to birth
Preterm birth
Time Frame: Enrollment to gestational age 36 +6
Number of births that occur between gestational age 20 +0 and 36 +6
Enrollment to gestational age 36 +6
Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
Time Frame: Enrollment to up to twelve weeks after delivery
Number of participants diagnosed with a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy
Enrollment to up to twelve weeks after delivery

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Heartland Health Research Alliance

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Indiana University School of Medicine

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 11, 2020

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
January 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
January 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
August 5, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 5, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 8, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
June 29, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 25, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
June 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • HHRA-HS-Phase1-2019

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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