UF RECEIVES $3.5 MILLION TO STUDY COCAINE-EXPOSED KIDS

Researchers at the University of Florida have been awarded a $3.5 million
grant to study developmental problems of children ages 10 through 12 whose
mothers used cocaine during pregnancy.

The money will augment UF's existing research on cocaine-exposed children,
including 300 infants they have been following since birth for a decade.
Half of the children were exposed to cocaine in the womb, half were not.

In this next phase of the study, the children will take intelligence and
achievement tests. They also will be asked about their attitudes,
behaviors, family relationships and friendships. Researchers will assess
their home environments and interview their schoolteachers and caregivers.

"We want to know what it is about their lives that is helping the kids who
are doing well," said Fonda Davis Eyler, a professor of pediatrics at UF's
College of Medicine. "What are the kinds of things that help children grow
and develop?"

The money will be handed out during five years from the National Institute
on Drug Abuse.