About the HEALthy Brain and Child
Development (HBCD) Study
The HBCD Study is the largest, long-term study of early
brain and child development in the United States
WHO WE ARE
This ambitious project, funded through a partnership of a dozen Institutes, Centers, and Offices of the National Institutes of Health, will enroll approximately 7,500 participating families from across the United States and follow them from pregnancy through early childhood. The HBCD Research Consortium consists of an Administrative Core, a Data Coordinating Center, and 27 research sites across the country.
WHAT WE DO
Leading researchers in the fields of child development and neuroscience will work with participating families and their children to understand how the brain develops and is affected by exposure to substances and other environmental, social, and biological factors during pregnancy and after birth. What we learn from this research will have lasting impacts on future generations of children.
The study will collect information beginning at birth and through early childhood, including anthropometrics (growth measures); medical and family history; biospecimens (samples such as urine and blood); and social, emotional, and cognitive function. Structural and functional brain imaging are also done to help see the different parts of the brain and measure activity.
OUR VALUES
The HBCD Study is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout every level of the initiative. We are conducting this study to advance health equity and ensure that all children in the United States have the greatest possible chance for lifelong health and well-being.
WORKING WITH EXPERTS ACROSS THE NATION
SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATORS
HBCD Consortium
Administrative Core (HCAC)
The HCAC provides the organizational framework for the management, direction, and overall coordination of the national multi-site consortium.
HBCD Data Coordinating
Center (HDCC)
The HDCC is responsible for coordinating, standardizing, and integrating all core data collection, quality control, processing, storage, and analytic activities of the consortium.
HBCD Site Principal
Investigators
The Site PIs are the lead researchers at each of our 27 recruitment sites who are responsible for the oversight, conduct, and administration of the study at their location.
PARTNERS
External Scientific Board
(ESB)
The ESB includes national experts in areas critical to the HBCD Study and provides external and unbiased review of scientific program progress and related activities.
Observational Study
Monitoring Board (OSMB)
The OSMB is a group of independent scientists responsible for monitoring the data and reviewing and assessing the performance and safety of study operations.
Federal Partners
The HBCD Study is funded by 12 participating NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices.
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.
