# Promoting Early Child Development in Primary Care for Low-Income Families

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · 2020 · $169,376

## Abstract

Summary
The overall goal of this proposed Mentored Patient-Oriented Career Development Award (K23) is for the
candidate, Dr. Reshma Shah, to become an independent clinical investigator with a focus on primary care-
based strategies to improve early child development in low-income families. Recognized by the NICHD as a
target for research to improve early child development and school readiness among at-risk families, the
primary care setting offers an ideal opportunity to reach the millions of children who live in poverty. To develop,
implement, and evaluate preventive primary care delivered strategies that support early child development the
candidate requires additional formal training in the following important areas: 1) the design, execution, and
analysis of clinical trials in the primary care setting, 2) qualitative methods and longitudinal data analysis for
intervention development, 3) childhood development and its social determinants, and 4) professional
development through scientific publications and presentations. The proposed research plan will integrate these
training objectives and be implemented with the support of the candidate's mentorship team, which includes
experts in each of these areas. The overall objective of the proposed research plan is to develop and pilot test
a brief, theory-based intervention delivered in the primary care setting. Grounded in social cognitive theory and
modeled after the widely disseminated literacy program Reach Out and Read, the intervention aims to enrich
positive parenting behaviors and promote early child development in low-income families. By pursuing the
following specific aims, the candidate will gather data essential to test its efficacy on parental and child
outcomes (to be proposed in a subsequent R01). In Aim 1, the candidate will utilize qualitative methods and
conduct focus groups and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders (i.e., parents, clinicians, clinical
staff and administrators of the proposed intervention) to inform intervention development and identify barriers
to implementation. In Aim 2, the developed intervention will be tested via a pilot longitudinal randomized
controlled trial to determine the feasibility of protocol implementation and to investigate the potential impact on
parental outcomes. The training and research plan will complement the candidate's strong clinical background
in developmental-behavioral pediatrics, serve as a framework to develop accessible and sustainable clinical
interventions that seek to enhance early child development, and prepare the candidate for long-term
independence as a clinical researcher.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9970226
- **Project number:** 5K23HD086295-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Reshma Shah
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $169,376
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-23 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9970226

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9970226, Promoting Early Child Development in Primary Care for Low-Income Families (5K23HD086295-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9970226. Licensed CC0.

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