Center for perception and communication in children

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences awarded Father Flanagan's Boys' Home $1,215,272 on July 10, 2026, under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859) to establish and operate the Center for Perception and Communication in Children, a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence at Boys Town National Research Hospital.

The Center aims to lead national research on perception and communication in children with speech, language, and hearing disorders. The award funds three operational cores: an Administrative Core managing day-to-day activities, resource allocation, and advisory coordination; a Research Technology Core supporting cutting-edge research infrastructure; and a Research Participant Services Core recruiting and managing study participants. The Center's Phase 3 goals include stimulating clinical-translational research on children's communication outcomes, establishing sustainability plans for post-COBRE funding, ensuring research rigor through community outreach, advancing research technology development, and sharing resources and knowledge with the broader scientific community.

Work is performed in Omaha, Nebraska, with performance extending through March 31, 2031. Father Flanagan's Boys' Home operates as a tax-exempt nonprofit research entity with longstanding NIH funding history and access to pediatric research infrastructure including magnetoencephalography and structural MRI imaging at Boys Town National Research Hospital. The organization receives sub-award funding from academic institutions including the University of Iowa, University of Illinois, Central Michigan University, and University of Colorado for data collection, audiological testing, and subject recruitment supporting parent research grants.

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.