# Temporal Milestones During Childhood: Identification of a Maturational Spurt

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA · 2020 · $27,132

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
 The identification of a maturational spurt during normal skeletal development is of critical biomedical and
public health importance because it will: (1) improve clinical treatment timing for children suffering from skeletal
disorders, and (2) provide a more detailed understanding of human skeletal biology for the future biomedical
field. Fluctuations in the tempo of skeletal maturation may provide greater prognostic value than other
ontogenetic parameters. These fluctuations, including a potential maturational “spurt,” similar to the pubertal
growth spurt, have yet to be comprehensively characterized. Aim 1 of the proposed F31 will use existing data
on skeletal age collected by the Sponsor to examine tempo changes in skeletal maturation and to elucidate the
relationship between ontogenetic parameters of the maturational spurt with known parameters of the pubertal
growth spurt. Aim 2 will provide refined skeletal maturity indicator grades predictive of distinct parameters of
the pubertal growth spurt and the maturational spurt. This aim will include the collection of new skeletal
maturity indicator data by the applicant. Because the timing of skeletal maturity is influenced by racial and/or
ethnic background, Aim 3 will focus on characterizing the tempo of maturation in children of African American,
Asian American, and Hispanic descent. These Aims will be accomplished by leveraging existing longitudinal
data from two longitudinal studies of childhood and incorporating a variety of multi-level, repeated-measure
modeling techniques, including polynomial modeling and ordinal logistic regression. The results from the
proposed analyses will provide clinicians with improved skeletal maturity assessment tools that will lead to
optimization of individualized pediatric treatment timing and improved quality of life in patients with skeletal
disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9836859
- **Project number:** 5F31HD091939-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Melanie Emily Boeyer
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $27,132
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-01-01 → 2020-05-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9836859

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9836859, Temporal Milestones During Childhood: Identification of a Maturational Spurt (5F31HD091939-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9836859. Licensed CC0.

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