Healthy Brain and Child Development study across 27 sites
Official title: 21/24 Healthy Brain and Child Development National Consortium
Funded at University of Wisconsin-Madison · NIH-11518983 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project studies how genes and early-life environments affect brain development in thousands of babies and young children.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Wisconsin-Madison NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Madison, United States) |
| Project start | September 30, 2021 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $1,456,195 |
| NIH project number | 4U01DA055370-06 |
| Project ID | NIH-11518983 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are pregnant people and their children across diverse backgrounds who consent to long-term follow-up and imaging, behavioral assessments, and biospecimen collection.
✕Less likely to help
Some families may not directly benefit if their participation does not lead to individual-level insights or if they are not selected for certain sub-studies.
What this research studies
The Healthy Brain and Child Development Consortium will enroll 7,200 mothers and infants across 27 sites to collect brain imaging, physiological and behavioral data, and biospecimens over the first 10 years of life. Researchers will use harmonized protocols to build a large, diverse dataset that tracks how prenatal and early life exposures influence development. The study aims to create normative developmental trajectories that can help identify when and how adverse experiences impact children, with results shared broadly to advance understanding and care.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: It could lead to earlier identification of developmental risks and inform interventions to support healthy brain development.
How similar studies have gone: Previous large neurodevelopmental studies have shown the value of harmonized multi-site data in understanding brain development, though this particular consortium is novel in its scale and coordinated resources.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Dean Iii, Douglas Carl — University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Study coordinator: Dean Iii, Douglas Carl
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Healthy Brain and Child Development for the next generation
A large, long-term study follows thousands of mothers and young children to map how brain development unfolds from birth through early childhood in diverse families.
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.