Jed Elison, assistant professor at the Institute of Child Development, has received the National Institute of Mental Health’s Biobehavioral Research Award for Innovative New Scientists (BRAINS). The award supports the research and the research career development of outstanding, exceptionally productive scientists who are in the early, formative stages of their careers and who plan to make a long-term career commitment to research in specific mission areas of NIMH.

Elison’s project, which he’ll undertake with this five-year award, will use state-of-the-art technology to focus on characterizing brain development between 3 and 24 months of age in typically developing children, and to evaluate whether patterns of brain development predict complex behaviors around 3 years of age.

“The funding,” Elison said, “will allow us to chart brain ‘growth trajectories’ like those you see in pediatricians offices for height and weight. The project requires us to enroll a lot of families, over 100, who are willing to visit the research lab multiple times in the first two years of their baby’s life. The BRAINS funding has also allowed me to assemble an all-star team to conduct this difficult research.”

Tom Insel, NIMH director, described the BRAINS research funding goals in greater depth in Director’s Blog: BRAINS—A New Research Generation, when he introduced the group of researchers selected for last year’s awards.

See Elison’s work described in the director’s Notable NIMH Grants web post.