Study Update

American political figure, Ivy Baker Priest, said it best when she declared, "The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning."

The University of Mississippi Medical Center in partnership with the Mississippi State Department of Health and the Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital have had the privilege and responsibility of implementing the NCS in Hinds County since 2007. Because our five-year contract with the NICHD ends September 27, 2012, we will no longer be following the families of the NCS in Hinds County.

The Hinds County NCS Vanguard Center has been one of the most efficient and successful centers in data collection and has consistently achieved the highest level of data quality. We have been successful because of your cooperation and dedication to our study participants.

The NIH is committed to following existing NCS Vanguard Study participants until the children who enrolled as infants reach the age of 21 years. The next round of contracts, to be awarded in September 2012, will include four regional operating centers, one for each region of the country. All Vanguard Study activities, including collaboration with health care providers, will be continued by the new Southern Regional Operating Center for the NCS. You may be contacted by the new contractor to request your continued collaboration. We hope you will be willing to continue to work with the NCS.

Another part of the NCS, a larger Main Study with the goal of enrolling 100,000 children, is planned to start in 2013. It is not known at this time whether Hinds County will be included in the Main Study. A provider based sampling strategy is anticipated; The NICHD is finalizing the details of the overall sampling frame.
At this time, our main goal is to communicate to you that effective September 27, 2012 the NCS Mississippi Study Center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center will no longer be involved in the NCS in Hinds County. After that, this research will be facilitated by a different contractor for an undetermined period of time. We hope we will have an opportunity to work with you again in the future. If you have any questions, please call Becky Martin, our Medical Outreach Coordinator, at (601)815-8406.