Center for Perception and Communication in Children

About This Grant

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Center for Perception and Communication in Children (CPCC) is a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (CoBRE) at Boys Town National Research Hospital (BTNRH) that aims to be a national leader for research on perception and communication in children. Children with speech, language, and hearing disorders have difficulties with an essential human need – communication. While prior research has led to improvements in health outcomes for children with communication disorders, we still have work to do to address the complex challenges these children face in their day-to-day lives. The CPCC has recruited a critical mass of scientists focused on identifying mechanisms and factors that influence children’s communicative development and translating those findings into improved clinical care. At the same time, strong institutional support and CoBRE funding have supported development of the extensive research and administrative infrastructure required to operate a translational, multi-disciplinary research center. The goals for Phase 3 of the CPCC are to 1) stimulate clinical-translational research on children’s communication outcomes, 2) solidify plans for sustainability of the center and cores once CoBRE funding has ended; 3) ensure rigor in research through extensive community-outreach activities, 4) remain on the cutting edge of research technology development; and 5) share resources and knowledge with the broader scientific community. The Administrative Core, Research Technology Core (Technology Core), and Research Participant Services Core (Participant Core) provide the foundation for supporting CPCC investigators, advancing science, and improving outcomes for children with communication disorders. The Administrative Core manages day-to-day activities, allocates resources, evaluates progress, and coordinates interactions with an Advisory Committee and BTNRH administration. The Technology Core provides support for software development, hardware solutions, statistical analysis, and auditory-visual room simulations. The Participant Core collects clinical data, facilitates rigor and reproducibility with respect to selecting and interpreting clinical measures, centralized participant recruitment, and coordinates efforts to engage individuals from multiple communities in research. An important focus in Phase 3 is to implement plans to ensure long-term sustainability of research cores and fully integrate into the overall research program at BTNRH.