The doctors from the University of Arizona were offered $44 million for the next six years if they participate in a study based on children’s health. Many investigators believe that this new study will provide serious information about the causes of childhood diseases. The study is a part of the National Children’s Study led by the National Institutes of Health.

Doctors from UA will track children from the rural counties in Arizona and will study them from their birth until their 21st birthday. The University of Arizona is among the 36 centers which will track volunteers from 72 locations in the country.

Dr. Fernando Martinez, a pediatrics professor and the UA's lead investigator for the study, said that the study’s target is to find out what the environmental, genetic and social causes of childhood diseases are. He added that this study represents an important factor in discovering the causes for autism and asthma.

"The reality is that there's no study of this type that has ever been done before. This is the first time a study has been this comprehensive and long,” Martinez said. Still, there have been a lot of studies made regarding this problem, but all of them looked only at one factor, being it environmental or genetic. Like Martinez said, they “hope to study these problems in an integrative way, which offers us a unique opportunity."

There will be almost 100,000 children studied by the researchers. They will be investigated regarding they celebral palsy, learning disabilities, birth defects and diabetes.