{"id":51,"date":"2019-02-13T16:53:28","date_gmt":"2019-02-13T16:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lab.research.sickkids.ca\/crosbie\/?page_id=51"},"modified":"2025-12-03T20:44:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T20:44:15","slug":"spit-for-science","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lab.research.sickkids.ca\/crosbie\/spit-for-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Spit for Science"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

Spit for Science<\/h2>\n

We are no longer recruiting for this study. <\/strong>Thank you to everyone who reached out and helped us reach our recruitment goals!<\/strong><\/p>\n

We recruited 40,000 children and adolescents visiting the<\/span>\u202f<\/span>Ontario Science Centre<\/span><\/a>\u202f<\/span>(OSC) to become Junior Scientists as part of research project called Spit for Science.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We asked our Junior Scientists and their parents to complete questionnaires about behaviour (the way you act), play a computer game to understand cognition (the way you think), as well as mental and physical health. Using Postal Codes, we have estimated many different aspects of a person's environment (e.g., how close you live to green space or exposure to air pollution). Finally, we asked our Junior Scientists to spit in a small tube so that we can collect DNA to learn about their genetics and learn about germs in their mouths (oral microbiome)!\u202f<\/span> We have over 10 million data points on our participants.<\/span><\/p>\n

We aim to discover how genes work with the environment and social determinants of health to impact children and <\/span>teens'<\/span> mental and physical health.\u00a0<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Have questions?<\/h3>\n

For more information, please contact:
\nAlex Chan, <\/strong><\/em>
\nClinical Research Project Coordinator<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Email: spitfor.science2@sickkids.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>

Principal investigator & co-investigators<\/h3>\n