# The Healthy Brain and Child Development National Consortium Administrative Core

> **NIH NIH U24** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2024 · $637,482

## Abstract

Neurodevelopmental processes are shaped by dynamic interactions between genes and
environments. Maladaptive experiences early in life can alter developmental trajectories, leading
to harmful and enduring developmental sequelae. Pre- and postnatal hazards include maternal
substance exposure, toxicant exposures in pregnancy and early life, maternal health conditions,
parental psychopathology, maltreatment, and excessive stress. To elucidate how various
environmental hazards impact child development, it is imperative that a normative template of
developmental trajectories over the first 10 years of life be established based on a sufficiently
large and demographically heterogeneous sample of the United States (US) population. To
accomplish this, the Healthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Consortium under the
leadership and management of the HBCD Consortium Administrative Core (HCAC) will deploy a
harmonized, optimized, and innovative set of neuroimaging (MRI, EEG) measures complemented
by an extensive battery of behavioral, physiological, and psychological tools, and biospecimens to
understand neurodevelopmental trajectories in a sample of 7,200 mothers and infants enrolled at
27 sites across the US. The overarching goal of the HBCD Study is to create a comprehensive,
harmonized, and high-dimensional dataset that will characterize typical neurodevelopmental
trajectories in US children and that will assess how biological and environmental exposures affect
those trajectories. A special emphasis will be placed on understanding the impact of pre- and
postnatal exposure to opioids, marijuana, alcohol, tobacco and/or other substances. To address
these broad objectives, the HCAC will oversee study design, development of the common
protocol, and monitor recruitment and retention to ensure that the sample of women enrolled
includes: 1) a varied cohort that is representative of the US population; 2) pregnant woman with
use of targeted substances (opioids, marijuana, alcohol, tobacco); and 3) demographically and
behaviorally similar women without substance use in pregnancy to enable valid causal
inferences. The HCAC will ensure study objectives are met, monitor performance, provide for
training, establish and carry out decision-making and ethical policies, manage all study
communications, and oversee processes for considering study modifications. In collaboration with
the HBCD Data Coordinating Center (HDCC), the HCAC will ensure that approximately annual
study datasets are released to the broader scientific community. The HBCD Consortium Study
will inform public policy to improve the health and development of children across the nation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11064428
- **Project number:** 3U24DA055325-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** CHRISTINA CHAMBERS
- **Activity code:** U24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $637,482
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-09-30 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11064428

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11064428, The Healthy Brain and Child Development National Consortium Administrative Core (3U24DA055325-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11064428. Licensed CC0.

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