Healthy Brain and Child Development — pregnancy through age 10
Official title: 10/24 Healthy Brain and Child Development National Consortium
Funded at Osu Center for Health Sciences · NIH-11140313 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Follows pregnant people and their children up to age 10 with brain scans, behavior checks, and biological samples to map normal development and how early exposures shape it.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Osu Center for Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Tulsa, United States) |
| Project start | September 30, 2021 |
| Project end | June 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $1,254,284 |
| NIH project number | 5U01DA055349-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11140313 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Pregnant people and families with infants or children up to 10 years old who can attend visits at participating U.S. sites and are willing to provide surveys and biological samples are ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not pregnant, do not have children in the eligible age range, or cannot travel to participating sites or provide consent and samples would not benefit directly.
What this research studies
If you join, researchers will collect MRI and EEG brain scans, developmental and behavioral tests, questionnaires about stress and exposures, and biospecimens from pregnant people and their children across multiple visits from pregnancy through the child's tenth birthday. About 7,200 mother–infant pairs will be enrolled at 27 sites across the U.S., with data harmonized and pooled into a shared database for many researchers to use. The study focuses on how prenatal and early-life factors like maternal substance use, environmental toxins, maternal health, and family stress relate to brain and behavioral development. Participation may include in-person site visits, remote surveys, and sample collection, and data will be de-identified before wider sharing.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could create a national blueprint of early brain development that helps spot risks sooner and guide prevention or early-intervention programs.
How similar studies have gone: Large projects such as the ABCD study have successfully built shared brain-development datasets, but this effort is novel for its focus on prenatal and early childhood periods and on environmental exposures.
Where this research is happening
-
Osu Center for Health Sciences
Tulsa, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Croff, Julie May — Osu Center for Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Croff, Julie May
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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California Abundant Birth Project: does guaranteed income during pregnancy affect birth outcomes and child development?
A government-backed program gives pregnant people in California monthly income to reduce stress, with researchers studying how this helps birth outcomes and early child development.
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Father-inclusive parenting program to boost early child development
A family-focused program tests whether including fathers in responsive parenting support leads to better outcomes for young children.
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Healthy Brain and Child Development study across 27 sites
This project studies how genes and early-life environments affect brain development in thousands of babies and young children.
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Healthy Brain and Child Development study across 27 sites
A nationwide study follows mothers and infants from pregnancy through early childhood to map how genes and environments shape brain development and behavior.
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Healthy Brain and Child Development in the US: a large, multi-site study of early life factors
A large nationwide study follows mothers and their babies from birth to age 10 to understand how genes and early life experiences shape brain development.
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Healthy Brain and Child Development: a big study following kids from birth through age 10
A large, nationwide study will follow 7,200 mothers and their babies to map how early life experiences shape brain growth and development.
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.