Funded Projects

Explore our currently funded projects. You may search with all three fields, then focus your results by applying any of the dropdown filters. After customizing your search, you may download results and even save your specific search for later.

Project # Project Title Sort ascending Research Focus Area Research Program Administering IC Institution(s) Investigator(s) Location(s) Year Awarded
1R34DA050262-01
1/5 Establishing Innovative Approaches for the HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study Enhanced Outcomes for Infants and Children Exposed to Opioids HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (HBCD) NIDA UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL LIN, WEILI (contact); GILMORE, JOHN HORACE; GREWEN, KAREN M; JONES, HENDREE E Chapel Hill, NC 2019
NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (HEALthy BCD) (Collaborative R34 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
NOFO Number: RFA-DA-19-029
Summary:

A more than 5-fold increase in the incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome has been reported since 2000. Preliminary studies show that prenatal opioid exposure is associated with increased risk of impaired neurodevelopment. Five institutions (Duke University, Arkansas Children’s Research Institute, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) have formed a consortium to develop strategies for the Phase II HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study. Research teams will develop instruments and strategies (recruitment/retention protocols, assessment batteries, and novel tools); conduct pilot studies (fetal and postnatal imaging, advanced imaging harmonization and quality control, assessment administration, biosampling) to evaluate instruments; and analyze available data, including imaging, behavioral, cognitive, and maternal data from studies on early brain development, to guide the Phase II study design. Upon completion, the consortium aims to conduct the Phase II study.

1R34DA050291-01
1/4 Investigation of opioid exposure and neurodevelopment (iOPEN) Enhanced Outcomes for Infants and Children Exposed to Opioids HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (HBCD) NIDA OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY GRAHAM, ALICE M (contact); FAIR, DAMIEN A Portland, OR 2019
NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (HEALthy BCD) (Collaborative R34 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
NOFO Number: RFA-DA-19-029
Summary:

Rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome have reached a staggering 6.5 per 1,000 births nationwide, creating an urgent need to identify how in-utero exposure to opioids and associated risk factors influence the developing brain. A multidisciplinary team will address these challenges in Oregon, a state particularly hard hit by the opioid epidemic. Through linking sites, the impact of the Phase I project is enhanced and will provide critical information to support a national-level effort for Phase II of the HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study. Aim 1 will develop, implement, and evaluate innovative recruitment and retention strategies for high-risk populations. Aim 2 will address anticipated challenges of the planned Phase II study by implementing and evaluating a multi-site, standardized research protocol including multimodal MRI of placenta, fetus, neonate, and 24-month-old brain; biospecimen collection; and assessment of substance use and other key domains. Aim 3 will evaluate data acquisition, processing, and statistical considerations to maximize data quality, usability, and integration across sites.

1R34DA050270-01
1/3 Promoting Resilience in Children: Protocol Development for a Birth Cohort Study To Assess Factors Impacting Neurodevelopment Enhanced Outcomes for Infants and Children Exposed to Opioids HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (HBCD) NIDA UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON GOLDSTEIN, ELLEN (contact); ZGIERSKA, ALEKSANDRA EWA Madison, WI 2019
NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (HEALthy BCD) (Collaborative R34 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
NOFO Number: RFA-DA-19-029
Summary:

The first ten years of life are accompanied by rapid changes to the developing brain and cognitive abilities. Complex interacting factors including genetics, early-life exposure to substances, family and social interactions, and home and community environments can affect brain and cognitive development. Three linked projects aim to develop effective research protocols to lay a foundation for a future HEALthy Brain and Cognitive Development (HBCD) birth cohort study. Project 1 will develop protocols for recruitment and retention of a diverse sample of pregnant and postpartum women with oversampling of mothers with prenatal opioid use. Project 2 will identify ethical, legal, and regulatory challenges for investigations in this vulnerable population and define effective solutions to enable recruitment and study of these participants. Project 3 will develop and evaluate protocols for acquiring high-quality, quantitative neuroimaging measures with magnetic resonance imaging and functional near infrared spectroscopy and assess effective strategies for measuring cognitive performance in young children, including those exposed to opioids.

1U01DA055366-01
1/24 Healthy Brain and Child Development National Consortium Enhanced Outcomes for Infants and Children Exposed to Opioids HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (HBCD) NIDA CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER GAO, WEI (contact); GREGORY, KIMBERLY D; JOHNSON, SCOTT P; SMITH, LYNNE M Los Angeles, CA 2021
NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (Collaborative U01- Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
NOFO Number: RFA-DA-21-020
Summary:

The HEALthy Brain and Child Development National Consortium (HBCD-NC) will establish a normative model of developmental trajectories over the first 10 years of life. All sites in the HBCD-NC will carry out a common research protocol and will assemble and distribute a comprehensive research dataset to the scientific community. The HBCD-NC will collect neural, behavioral, physiological, and psychological measures, as well as biospecimens, to characterize neurodevelopmental trajectories. Most participants will be recruited in the second trimester of pregnancy, with a smaller subset recruited at birth, and followed for the first 10 years of life. The Cedars-Sinai Medical Center study site is in Los Angeles where marijuana is legal and methamphetamine use is prevalent, enabling researchers to recruit participants from high-risk populations.

1R34DA050272-01
1/2 Optimizing access, engagement and assessment to elucidate prenatal influences on neurodevelopment: The Brains Begin Before Birth (B4) Midwest Consortium Enhanced Outcomes for Infants and Children Exposed to Opioids HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (HBCD) NIDA WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ROGERS, CYNTHIA ELISE (contact); SMYSER, CHRISTOPHER DANIEL St. Louis, MO 2019
NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (HEALthy BCD) (Collaborative R34 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
NOFO Number: RFA-DA-19-029
Summary:

Though prenatal exposure to opioids and other substances have adverse effects on neurodevelopment, advances in neuroimaging and developmentally sensitive phenotypic measurement now enable characterization of typical and atypical brain-behavior pathways on an unprecedented scale. The Brains Begin Before Birth (B4) Midwest Consortium, a partnership of neuroscience, substance use, perinatal mental health, and child welfare scientists at Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) and neuroscience, bioethics, pediatric population health, maternal-fetal, and addiction scientists at Northwestern University (NU). This regional consortium will leverage the contrasting approaches of Illinois (punitive) and Missouri (non-punitive) to prenatal opioid use, providing a platform for examining the impact of jurisdictional variations on science and practice. The consortium provide a framework for addressing three major areas of challenge: (1) legal/ethical, (2) recruitment/retention, and (3) imaging/assessment methods.

1U01DA055343-01
1/2 Assessing the Cumulative Impact of Early Life Substance and Environment Exposure on Child Neurodevelopment and Health Enhanced Outcomes for Infants and Children Exposed to Opioids HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (HBCD) NIDA RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL DEONI, SEAN CL (contact); D'SA, VIREN ANDREW Providence, RI 2021
NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (Collaborative U01- Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
NOFO Number: RFA-DA-21-020
Summary:

This study aims to determine how exposure to opioids and other substances affects the developing fetal brain and shapes later child cognitive outcomes. Researchers will collect neuroimaging and behavioral data, as well as measures of environmental exposures related to social equity, COVID-19, and socioeconomic factors. The project will reduce traditional barriers to participation by using innovative data collection methods and mobile labs to bring the research to underrepresented and marginalized communities. This approach aims to clarify the impact of substance exposure on child development through an equitable approach to research, with generalizable findings. The study will take place at Rhode Island Hospital, where participants will be drawn from a largely rural population.

1UG3DA050306-01
1-Year Sustained Release Naltrexone Implant for the prevention of relapse to opioid dependence Novel Therapeutic Options for Opioid Use Disorder and Overdose Focusing Medication Development to Prevent and Treat Opioid Use Disorder and Overdose NIDA Delpor, Inc. Martin, Francis South San Francisco, CA 2019
NOFO Title: Development of Medications to Prevent and Treat Opioid Use Disorders and Overdose (UG3/UH3) (Clinical Trial Optional)
NOFO Number: RFA-DA-19-002
Summary:

There is a need for longer-acting prophylactic pharmacologic options for opioid use disorder (OUD) patients during maintenance therapy. This study tests a titanium implant loaded with a formulation of naltrexone and a naturally occurring carboxylic acid. The device is implanted subcutaneously with local anesthetic during an in-office procedure. The technology is based on a unique formulation that keeps the pH within the reservoir low and promotes passive diffusion of naltrexone. The benefits of the product include complete medication adherence for one year after administration, fewer relapses, smooth profile ensuring complete prophylaxis without sub-therapeutic plasma troughs, full reversibility, and similar efficacy with less drug exposure. This technology has been validated clinically with another drug and tested preclinically with naltrexone. This project will finalize the chemistry manufacturing and controls, produce IND supplies, conduct an IND-enabling safety study, and submit the IND.