Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The University of Houston System received a $2.39M Project Grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) under the Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders program (CFDA 93.173), awarded March 5, 2026, with a completion date of February 28, 2031. This award supports the establishment of a multidisciplinary Clinical Research Center (CRC) focused on identifying and estimating the prevalence of Developmental Language Disorders (DLD) and late talking in linguistically and culturally diverse children representative of the Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area population.

The research initiative encompasses three primary projects supported by two administrative cores. Project 1 will establish a longitudinal cohort of approximately 2,400 children aged 18-24 months (drawn from a screened population of 3,600) recruited through Texas Children's Hospital pediatric clinic networks, with equal representation of late talkers and non-late talkers, followed through age 48-59 months for DLD assessment. Project 2 investigates social and genetic determinants of late talking and DLD, while Project 3 examines developmental pathways in a Spanish- and English-speaking subcohort (N=300) using motor, cognitive, and linguistic micro-phenotype indicators. Core B provides sophisticated longitudinal data management and statistical analysis support, while Core A manages administrative coordination across all projects.