Understanding Early Life Experiences and Child Brain Development
5/6 HBCD Prenatal Experiences and Longitudinal Development (PRELUDE) Consortium
This large-scale effort aims to understand how early life experiences, both good and bad, shape a child's brain development over their first ten years.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chapel Hill, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11138738 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
We know that a child's brain development is influenced by many things, including their genes and the world around them. This project looks at how different experiences before and after birth, like a mother's health, stress, or exposure to certain substances, can affect a child's growth. Researchers will follow 7,200 mothers and their babies from across the United States, using advanced brain imaging and other tools. The goal is to create a clear picture of typical brain development and see how various environmental factors might change that path.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are mothers and infants who are willing to be followed for the first ten years of the child's life, contributing to a diverse national sample.
Not a fit: Patients not directly participating in this long-term observation may not receive immediate personal benefit from this foundational research.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help us better understand how to support healthy brain development in children and identify ways to prevent or address challenges early in life.
How similar studies have performed: While individual studies have explored aspects of early development, this consortium represents a novel, large-scale, harmonized approach to establish comprehensive developmental trajectories.
Where this research is happening
Chapel Hill, United States
- Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill — Chapel Hill, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Lin, Weili — Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
- Study coordinator: Lin, Weili
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 below.