Learning Disabilities Research Centers

Program seeks Council approval to recompete the initiative entitled Learning Disabilities Research Centers. Approximately 15% of the general population have one or more Specific Learning Disabilities (SLDs), which impede the acquisition of fundamental skills in mathematics, reading, and writing. 

SLDs are life-long conditions that can lead to limited functional literacy and/or numeracy skills. Limited functional literacy and numeracy skills have both short- and long-term public health consequences for individuals and impact their learning and school completion, earning potential, health literacy and life expectancy.

The proposed Notice of Funding Opportunity builds upon prior successes in promoting integrative, transdisciplinary, and multi-method approaches to the examination of research topics related to SLDs. Despite progress toward closing the research to practice gap for identification and treatment of children with SLD by NICHD’s 2 currently funded centers, much remains to done to understand and improve children’s learning outcomes. 

This proposed initiative aims to improve identification and classification of SLDs, deepen understanding of their genetic and neurobiological underpinnings, and advance the testing of innovative screening and intervention strategies to improve outcomes. This program seeks to additionally bridge the practice to lab, or bedside to bench, gap that exists in the field, enhance outcomes for dialect and English language learners, and enhance our knowledge base of how learners develop knowledge across texts and other informational media. 

This concept is closely aligned with the NICHD strategic plan, particularly its focus on child and adolescent health, the transition to adulthood, disease prevention, and the training of future scientists. 

The concept also aligns closely with the Child Development and Behavior Branch emphasis on advancing the science of learning, neurodevelopment and neuroplasticity.

Update on program

The Centers’ program forms the cornerstone of NICHD’s learning disabilities (LDs) research investment. Research from this program has been foundational to the field’s understanding of the neurobiology of reading (e.g., brain regions and networks tuned for reading), genetic risk factors for LD, and learners’ neural plasticity in response to behavioral intervention/instruction. More recently, the centers have made advancements and refinements to identification and classification models, expanding outreach and recruitment to ensure research evidence supports all learners, and moving to emphasize more complex learner profiles (e.g., co-occurring conditions). In the most recent iteration, engagement with communities and support of next generation of scholars have been emphasized.  Centers are utilizing novel engagement approaches such as engagement studios to work directly with community members, families, and other invested individuals to obtain meaningful insight on the conduct and dissemination of research. To address learners’ needs now, centers have provided seminars on rights of learners and parents and low- or no-cost LD assessments supported through non-NIH funding leveraging the Center infrastructure. The two centers are training an outsized number of early career scholars utilizing our project embedded approach (~70 scholars to date this cycle) with 33-66% of publications being led by these scholars.

The NOFOs for the Learning Disabilities Research Centers’ program change every cycle to address areas of current and emergent need. This round we intend to highlight three specific topics: 1) Practice to Lab, which will emphasize leveraging of partnerships to identify thematic challenges and actionable research questions (pre-award) to motivate a solutions driven approach to science; 2) Enhancing outcomes for dialect and English Language Learners, which will focus on foundational and translational science projects to address the shared and unique needs of these populations across the developmental span as they acquire English literacy and mathematics skills; and 3) Learning across sources, calling for research to build a cogent understanding of how learners develop knowledge across texts and other informational media (e.g. digital media). We would retain an emphasis on engagement and development of the next generation of LD scholars building off the successful model implemented in previous NOFOs.

Program Contact

Brett Miller
Child Development and Behavior Branch (CDBB)