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UCSD – Healthy Brain and Child Development

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    • About the HBCD Study
    • HBCD Consortium Administrative Core
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          and Kennedy Krieger Institute
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Become a Participant

  • About
    • About the HBCD Study
    • HBCD Consortium Administrative Core
    • HBCD Data Coordinating Center
    • HBCD Site Principal Investigators
    • External Scientific Board
    • Observational Study Monitoring Board
    • Federal Partners
  • Families
    • For Families
    • Family Participation
    • Resources
    • Study FAQs
  • Scientists
    • For Scientists
    • Study Protocols
    • Data Sharing
    • Workgroups and Committees
    • Publications
  • Recruitment Sites
        • Overview
        • Arkansas Children’s Research Institute
        • Boston Children’s Hospital
        • Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
        • Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
        • Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
        • Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
        • Emory University
        • Johns Hopkins University
          and Kennedy Krieger Institute
        • Northwestern University
        • NYU Langone Health
        • Oklahoma State University
          Center for Health Sciences
        • Oregon Health & Science University
        • Penn State College of Medicine
        • Penn State University
        • The University of Alabama
        • University of Alabama at Birmingham
        • University of California, San Diego Health
        • University of Maryland, College Park
        • University of Minnesota
        • University of New Mexico Health and Health Sciences
        • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
        • University of Vermont
        • University of Wisconsin-Madison
        • Vanderbilt University
        • Virginia Tech
        • Washington University in St. Louis
  • News
    • News
    • Newsletter
    • Videos

HEALthy Brain and Child
Development (HBCD) Study

The HBCD Study, sponsored by the National Institutes of
Health, is the largest long-term study of early brain and
child development in the United States.

Watch Video About the Study Arrow

ABOUT THE STUDY

Exploring factors that impact children’s
development

The HBCD Study will enroll over 7,000 participating families across the United States and follow them from pregnancy through early childhood. Our long-term goal is to better understand how child development is affected by exposure to social and environmental experiences and conditions.

Recent advances in technology and developments in research allow us to explore in more detail how early exposures interact with brain development and other social and health outcomes. Knowledge gained from this research will have lasting impacts on future generations of children.

Learn More About The Study

FOR FAMILIES

Join a study that will help create healthy
futures for all children

Connect with the nation’s leading child development and neuroscience researchers to participate in the HBCD Study and help uncover the experiences of early childhood that can affect an individual’s future.

Many factors affect how children develop, yet little is known about how these factors impact health and other outcomes. Together, we can find answers to many questions that parents, caregivers, and health professionals can use to enhance the well-being of children.

Learn About Participating

FOR SCIENTISTS

Information for researchers

Our major study aims include facilitating data sharing under an open science model and serving as a resource for the worldwide scientific community to enable broad use of the HBCD data. Beginning in 2024, annual data releases will be publicly available to researchers for analysis and to generate new ideas for research.

Read More

RECRUITMENT SITES

Get involved at one of our 27
recruitment sites

The HBCD Study has 27 recruitment sites at universities and research hospitals across the United States and involves the participation of leading experts in the fields of neuroscience, developmental science, and public health.

Families have the opportunity to join the study at one of their local recruitment sites starting in 2023.

Read More

Map June 2024 Eng

HBCD STUDY IN THE NEWS

Review the latest news and press releases about the study

Read All News

Q&A: Communication Prof. Elizabeth Norton talks children’s language, reading development research

The Daily Northwestern
Apr, 17, 2025
Read More

Leading neuroscientist and AI geneticist Anders Dale, Ph.D. named president of J. Craig Venter Institute and joins Board

J. Craig Venter Institute
Apr, 2, 2025
Read More

Early Relational Health: A Foundation for Healthy Development Across the Lifespan

National Institutes of Health
Mar, 19, 2025
Read More

UAMS Invests Ashley Acheson, Ph.D., in Wilbur D. Mills Distinguished Chair in Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Prevention

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) News
Nov, 19, 2024
Read More

Some moms in addiction recovery say they were discouraged from breastfeeding

Radio IQ wvtf
Sep, 12, 2024
Read More

Can I Drink While Pregnant? A Brain Development Expert Shares the Latest Science

Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Jul, 25, 2024
Read More

BECOME A PARTICIPANT

As parents, caregivers, health care providers, and researchers, we share a common goal: helping our children grow to be healthy and happy.

We invite you to participate in a study that will expand our knowledge of development from the prenatal period through early childhood with the goal of understanding how to better support healthy futures for all children for generations to come.

Contact Your Local Recruitment Site

About

About the HBCD Study
HBCD Consortium Administrative Core
HBCD Data Coordinating Center
HBCD Site Principal Investigators
External Scientific Board
Observational Study Monitoring Board
Federal Partners

Families

For Families
Family Participation
Resources
Study FAQs

Scientists

For Scientists
Study Protocols
Data Sharing
Workgroups and
Committees

Publications

Recruitment Sites

Overview

News

News
Newsletter
Videos

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