# NIH BABY TOOLBOX

> **NIH NIH N01** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $2,555,909

## Abstract

There is a wide range of early developmental assessment or screening instruments.
Standardized, reliable assessment instruments (e.g., Mullen Scales of Early Learning, Brigance
Inventory of Early Development, Battelle Developmental Inventory, etc.) allow for direct
evaluation of infant/child behaviors but they are time intensive, expensive to purchase, require
highly trained personnel for administration, scoring, and interpreting, and often rely on outdated
norms. The purpose of the NIH Infant and Toddler Toolbox (aka the “NIH Baby Toolbox”
[NBT]) is to develop and nationally norm an easy to administer, score, and interpret infant and
toddler assessment inventory of cognition, social functioning, language (receptive and
expressive), numeracy, self-regulation, executive function, and motor function for research and
clinical use in children between 1- to 42-months of age that will include direct child assessment
(preferred measurement), supplemented as needed by parental/ legal guardian report.

To complete the NIH Toolbox, Northwestern will extend its relationship with Sage Bionetworks, a Seattle-based nonprofit research and development organization specializing in Apple and Android data collection. Northwestern researchers will also coordinate measurement development efforts by researchers at the University of Denver, Florida State University, University of Minnesota, Johns Hopkins University, and New York University.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10500309
- **Project number:** 75N94019D00005-0-759402100001-1
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** RICHARD GERSHON
- **Activity code:** N01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $2,555,909
- **Award type:** —
- **Project period:** 2021-09-28 → 2022-09-27

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10500309

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10500309, NIH BABY TOOLBOX (75N94019D00005-0-759402100001-1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10500309. Licensed CC0.

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