The research focus of OMNI is based upon three pillars.

"Fetal origins of adult disease (FOAD)" our first pillar is based on Barker's hypothesis. The Fetal Programming theory postulates that the inutero environment, or living conditions in early infancy, program physiologic systems, which in turn lead to adult diseases such as coronary heart disease, diabetes and stroke. One of our current investigations is examining the effects of inutero corticosteroids on programming the hypothalamic pituitary axis in children.

Perinatal environmental epidemiology. This second pillar is a series of investigations which focus on environmental contaminants and their effect on fetal and infant health. Our present research questions the relationship between birth defects and pollutants such as organochlorines.

The focus of our third pillar is Global perinatal health. This is our newest program and it is still in its infancy. Through this program we will focus on interventional and educational programs in the developing world (such as China) to improve maternal and infant health.

Thru these 3 pillars there are a variety of concepts which are integrated and utilized to develop strong research questions, such as:

• Methods in longitudinal studies
• Statistical modeling and analyses
• Social survival, marginalization and inequality
• Barker's hypothesis and cardiovascular diseases