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Second study
Board to get feedback from other entities regarding study
By Catherine Wilde
Staff Writer
Published Feb. 12
Last week, the three entities concerned with the St. Anthony’s site in Northvale learned more about the doctor who has offered to conduct another study there. Those entities are: the Northern Valley Regional High School district, which leases space at the building for its special education classes, the Archdiocese of Newark, which owns the building, and Northvale, where the school is located.
Representatives of each heard a presentation by Dr. Walter Zahorodny and will now decide whether or not to help fund a study that could amount to $50,000.
The site has been the subject of much scrutiny in past months. A task force headed by Dr. Lawrence Rosen, of the Deirdre Imus Environmental Center, revealed that 57 percent of children by 24 former teachers were diagnosed with some form of neurological disorder including autism.
However, Zahorodny questions the scientific merit of this study and wants to expand the pool of people surveyed, hoping for 70 to 80 percent participation of past employees. He would also compare the cases linked to St. Anthony’s with a control group: children by staff of two schools, Our Lady of Victories in Harrington Park and Nathan Hale in Northvale.
An assistant professor of pediatrics at New Jersey Medical School, Zahorodny specializes in pediatric neurodevelopment and was the lead researcher for an autism study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He headed the New Jersey chapter of this study, known as the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring network (ADDM). In this study, Zahorodny attributed the prevalence of autism in New Jersey in part to the state’s comprehensive health practices, which lead to familiarity with and early detection of the disorder.
Northern Valley Business Administrator Raymond Jacobus said Zahorodny’s experience with this study, where he focused on Essex, Hudson, Union and Ocean counties, gives him a broad base with which to compare the phenomenon at St. Anthony’s.
"He is covering a wide range of school districts so the student population … ranges from urban, low income, to suburban, wealthy districts," said Jacobus. This would position Zahorodny well, said Jacobus, since he would be looking at "commonalties not just within this small group of people but commonalties within a larger study."
As of press time, Jacobus said the board was awaiting conversations between its attorney and the Archdiocese to determine what they thought of the study Zahorodny has proposed. Northvale officials were to discuss it at an upcoming meeting. Mayor John Hogan had not returned phone calls as of press time.
However, Jacobus anticipates positive feedback.
"I don’t see any negativity. Each group has to go back and think about their position but everybody is impressed with what he’s doing and his plan of how he would do this."
E-mail: wilde@northjersey.com or call 201-894-6706
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