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UCSD – Healthy Brain and Child Development

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  • About
    • About the HBCD Study
    • HBCD Consortium Administrative Core
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        • Overview
        • Arkansas Children’s Research Institute
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          and Kennedy Krieger Institute
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  • 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

For Scientists

Review our study objectives, design, protocols and more

STUDY OBJECTIVES

The HBCD Study, the largest longitudinal study of early child development, will generate a unique data resource from a large cohort of participants across the U.S. A major goal of the HBCD Study is to make this valuable data resource available for the scientific community for analysis and generation of scientific hypotheses for further study. The HBCD Study will utilize an open science model to release curated, anonymized data annually, with initial release anticipated in 2024. Information on how researchers can access HBCD Study data will be available in 2024.

STUDY DESIGN

The HBCD Research Consortium consists of an administrative core (HCAC), a data coordinating center (HDCC), and 27 recruitment sites across the United States. The HCAC, HDCC, and HBCD Consortium Workgroups have established standardized and harmonized assessments of neurocognition, physical and mental health, social and emotional functions, and culture and environment. They also have established multimodal structural and functional brain imaging and bioassays.

HBCD Timeline

HBCD’s comprehensive protocol includes assessments of children’s physical, emotional, and cognitive development, plus surveys of parental health and well-being. The HBCD study features wearable biosensors to calculate infant heartbeat and movement, biospecimen collection for genetic and epigenetic analyses and measurements of environmental and substance-use exposures, and multimodal neuroimaging and EEG across neurodevelopment. These assessments are distributed across in-person and remote visits during an initial 5-year period. Visits are scheduled at variable intervals designed to capture developmental trajectories.  We are anticipating extension for a second 5-year period.

BRAIN MEASUREMENT TOOLS

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EEG

EEG Parameters

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MRI

MRI Parameters

STUDY PROTOCOLS

Visit 1

Prenatal

Summary Flyer
Protocol Brochure

Visit 2

0-1 Month

Summary Flyer
Protocol Brochure

Visit 3

3-9 Months

Summary Flyer
Protocol Brochure

View All Protocols and Tools

WORKGROUPS AND COMMITTEES

The HBCD Consortium has established workgroups to guide the development and refinement of the study design, protocols, informatics and standard operating procedures to facilitate the implementation of the study. Comprised of HBCD investigators, collaborators and staff with domain expertise, each workgroup meets regularly to assess and address the relevant needs of the study in light of scientific and technological advancements.

The HBCD Consortium Committees are structured to have engagement in areas that require integration across the consortium.

View All Workgroups and Committees

RECENT HBCD PUBLICATIONS View All Publications

Developing brain asymmetry shapes cognitive and psychiatric outcomes in adolescence

Wu X, Zhang K, Kuang N, Kong X, Cao M, Lian Z, Liu Y, Fan H, Yu G, Liu Z, Cheng W, Jia T, Sahakian BJ, Robbins TW, Feng J, Schumman G, Palaniyappan L, & Zhang J
Nature Communications
PubMed Record

Measuring adversity in the ABCD® Study: systematic review and recommendations for best practices.

Breslin FJ, Ratliff EL, Cohen ZP, Croff JM, Kerr KL
BMC medical research methodology
PubMed Record

Whole Brain MRI Assessment of Age and Sex-Related R2* Changes in the Human Fetal Brain.

Ji L, Duffy M, Chen B, Majbri A, Trentacosta CJ, Thomason M
Human brain mapping
PubMed Record

Enhancing task fMRI individual difference research with neural signatures.

Baranger DA, Gorelik AJ, Paul SE, Hatoum AS, Dosenbach N, Bogdan R
medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences
PubMed Record

Atlas of plasma metabolic markers linked to human brain morphology.

van der Meer D, Kopal J, Shadrin AA, Fuhrer J, Rokicki J, Stinson SE, Djurovic S, Dale AM, Andreassen OA
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
PubMed Record

Assessment of maternal health and behavior during pregnancy in the HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study: Rationale and approach

Gurka KK, Burris HH, Ciciolla L, Coles CD, Massey SH, Newman S, Rajagopalan V, Smith LM, Zilverstand A, Bandoli G, & The HBCD Pregnancy Exposures, Including Substances Workgroup
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
PubMed Record

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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