# An examination of recruitment and retention for clinical infant neuroimaging studies

> **NIH NIH U01** · VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV · 2024 · $76,475

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Substance use, particularly opioid use, during pregnancy is widespread and associated with adverse outcomes
for the pregnant individual and the developing child. Prenatal substance exposure is associated with a wide
range of negative fetal and child outcomes including reduced fetal growth, premature birth, lower birth weight,
congenital defects, increased neonatal healthcare, and heightened risk for later behavioral (e.g., anxiety,
inattention), cognitive (e.g., memory deficits, delayed language acquisition), and metabolic problems. It is
difficult to understand these strong links to adverse maternal, fetal, and child outcomes, without gathering a
complete picture of the other contextual factors and exposures that may contribute in a diverse and representative
sample from across the US.
 The HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) study is a 25-site longitudinal prospective study of
early child development in the US that will assess a broad spectrum of biological (e.g., neuroimaging, genetics,
epigenetics), behavioral (e.g., cognition and emotional regulation), experiential (e.g., trauma), social (e.g.,
racism), and health (e.g., psychopathology) factors among ~7,500 nationally-representative pregnant women
and their children from pregnancy to mid-childhood. A major goal of the HBCD study is to increase understanding
of the potential consequences of prenatal substance exposures. It will be enriched for maternal substance use
during pregnancy (i.e., ~25% of the sample will be using opioids, cannabis, alcohol, and/or tobacco during
pregnancy and 12% of the total sample will be using opioids) and offers a unique opportunity to inform our
understanding of how the adverse consequences associated with opioid use during pregnancy arise. It is
absolutely imperative that the populations recruited across sites be representative of the US birthing population
to ensure generalizable translation of the findings to be generated. This Diversity Supplement in response to
the NOSI to Encourage Eligible NIH HEAL Initiative Awardees to Apply for PA-20-222: Research Supplements
to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (NOT-NS-20-107) proposes to leverage the HBCD study to
better understand the impact of recruitment and retention strategies at the site level, combined with site
personnel structure, to optimize recruitment and retention of the vulnerable populations enrolled. The unique
combination of a standardized protocol being implemented across the US with the proposed qualitative
approaches will provide invaluable information for both optimizing recruitment as part of HBCD, as well as
informing future studies, leading to more equitable and inclusive science for all people.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11037481
- **Project number:** 3U01DA055357-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Martha Ann Bell
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $76,475
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2022-07-20 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11037481

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11037481, An examination of recruitment and retention for clinical infant neuroimaging studies (3U01DA055357-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11037481. Licensed CC0.

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