ABCD USA data and resource center for adolescent brain and health
Official title: ABCD-USA Consortium: Data Analysis, Informatics and Resource Center
Funded at J. Craig Venter Institute, INC. · NIH-11304523 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Collects and shares detailed brain, health, and behavior data from nearly 12,000 U.S. children and teens to help researchers understand adolescent development.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | J. Craig Venter Institute, INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (La Jolla, United States) |
| Project start | September 30, 2015 |
| Project end | March 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $4,456,378 |
| NIH project number | 5U24DA041123-12 |
| Project ID | NIH-11304523 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are families with children who were about 9–10 years old at enrollment (or adolescents at participating sites) who can attend study visits, complete questionnaires, and provide MRI and small biospecimen samples.
✕Less likely to help
Adults who were never enrolled, or children and families unable or unwilling to travel to one of the participating U.S. sites or provide MRI/biospecimen data, would not directly benefit from participation.
What this research studies
If your child joined ABCD, they completed standardized MRI scans, gave small biospecimen samples, and answered questions about behavior, mental and physical health, and substance use over many years. The project uses the same procedures at all sites, mobile data collection, and computer checks to make data reliable while keeping visits as easy as possible for families. The Data and Resource Center organizes, harmonizes, and shares those measurements so scientists across the country can use them. This work supports long-term tracking of development from late childhood into the teen years and helps enable many different studies using the same data.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this resource could speed discoveries about normal and abnormal brain development and lead to better ways to prevent or treat mental health and substance-use problems in youth.
How similar studies have gone: Large long-term child and adolescent cohort studies have successfully informed how environment, brain, and behavior interact, and ABCD is larger and more standardized than most prior efforts.
Where this research is happening
-
J. Craig Venter Institute, INC.
La Jolla, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Dale, Anders M — J. Craig Venter Institute, INC.
- Study coordinator: Dale, Anders M
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.