# Environmental Influences on Neurocognitive Development of Control and Adolescent Substance Use

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2024 · $182,304

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This K01 proposal seeks to provide Dr. Omid Kardan, an early-career environmental neuroscientist, with the
mentorship, training, and resources necessary to launch a career as an independent research-oriented
investigator focused on 1) the impact of the physical environment on neurodevelopmental risk factors for
Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) and 2) leveraging this knowledge to inform SUD prevention efforts in at-risk
youth. The candidate will work towards this long-term goal through the completion of a research project focused
on predicting trajectories of Executive Control and Attention function (ECA) in youth as a function of brain
architecture and environment. Specifically, the project aims to construct robust whole-brain network predictors
of normative ECA development throughout adolescence, assess if attenuated trajectory of growth in these
network predictors is related to initiation/escalation of Substance Use Behaviors (SUB), and identify physical
environmental factors that contribute to lower-than-expected ECA development and subsequent SUB outcomes.
Research in environmental psychology and epidemiology has found physical environmental factors such as
neighborhood air pollution, low greenspace, and high visual disorderliness to be associated with negative
cognitive and developmental outcomes. However, there is currently no large scale, replicable research in which
neurocognitive, socioeconomic (SES), and physical environmental factors are conjointly used to make reliable
and generalizable predictions of SUB trajectory for individual youth. The candidate will combine his existing
expertise in environmental neuroscience with new training in developmental neuroscience of SUDs and
longitudinal methods in analysis of multivariate data to elucidate the role of the environment in the emergence
of SUD-related brain phenotypes. The candidate will conduct extensive analyses with one large dataset
(Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study), and two datasets enriched for at-risk families and low-income
neighborhoods (Michigan Longitudinal Study and Michigan Twins Neurogenetics Study) to 1) Construct
multivariate neuromarkers of ECA trajectory in adolescence and investigate their relationship with SUBs, and 2)
Determine neighborhood SES and physical environmental factors that are related to SUB and predict trajectory
differences in neuromarker for ECA. Completion of the following training objectives will ensure that the candidate
can both carry out the proposed project and establish himself as an independent investigator who is well-
equipped to conduct future projects following from this work: 1) Increase knowledge about SUD risk factors and
SUBs 2) Gain expertise in advanced statistical methods to analyze longitudinal multivariate data, and 3) Increase
knowledge about contextual influences in neurodevelopment in adolescence. Completion of the proposed K01
goals will be a crucial step towards the utilization of environmen...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10982584
- **Project number:** 1K01DA059598-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Omid Kardan
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $182,304
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-01 → 2029-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10982584

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10982584, Environmental Influences on Neurocognitive Development of Control and Adolescent Substance Use (1K01DA059598-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10982584. Licensed CC0.

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