New Wellcome Discovery Award to map children's brain development

Researchers at King’s College London have secured more than £3.9 million from Wellcome to launch an ambitious new study that could transform understanding of how children’s brains develop. The study will explore why some young people show resilience while others become vulnerable to mental health difficulties.

Led by Professor Chiara Nosarti, the Developing Children’s Connectome Project (DCCP) will build one of the world’s most comprehensive ultra‑high‑field neuroimaging datasets, following children from before birth through early adolescence.

The project draws on expertise across the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) and the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine (FoLSM), bringing together specialists in child psychiatry, psychology, paediatric neurology, neuroimaging and computational neuroscience.

The new study will follow up children who were originally studied as babies as part of the Developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP), an internationally recognised programme that created the most detailed map of the newborn brain to date. By revisiting these children three times between the ages of 6 and 12, the DCCP will provide a unique window into how early brain organisation shapes later cognitive, behavioural and emotional development.

Using state‑of‑the‑art imaging at ultra‑high magnetic field strength, researchers will examine how brain networks evolve as children grow, and how biological and environmental factors interact to influence well‑being.

The Developing Children’s Connectome Project

The Developing Children’s Connectome Project will follow children from before birth into childhood, creating the most comprehensive ultra‑high‑field neuroimaging dataset to date spanning ages 6 to 12 and linking the earliest brain features to later resilience and mental health vulnerability. The study will provide rich new insights into how biology and environment combine to shape a child’s developmental trajectory, and use this knowledge to guide strategies supporting children’s well‑being.

Professor Chiara Nosarti, Professor of Neurodevelopment and Mental Health, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, said: 

"All researchers on the award are based at King’s, drawn from both IoPPN and FoLSM. The research will take place in the Clinical Research Facility (CRF) at the Pears Maudsley Centre, which is due to open in 2026, providing a highly specialised environment for paediatric research. The project will utilise King’s world‑leading neuroimaging facilities and expertise."

Philip Shaw, Director of the King’s Maudsley Partnership for Children and Young People and Professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London, said,

“We know a lot about the developing brain in infancy and in the teenage years, but remarkably little about middle childhood. Working from the Pears Maudsley Centre and St Thomas’, the research team will work with local families to fill this knowledge gap. The projects strength is the rich diversity of its London home, making sure that its insights into the developing mind and brain are relevant to all children.”

The team hopes that insights generated from the project will support the development of new approaches to promoting resilience, identifying early markers of mental health risk, and informing prevention strategies during childhood - a period when many psychiatric conditions begin to emerge.

The award reflects King’s globally recognised leadership in neurodevelopmental research.

Professor Grainne McAlonan, Director, NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), Clinical Professor of Translational Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, said:

" Under the leadership of Professor Nosarti and with contributions from her team of expert investigators across our NIHR Maudsley BRC and King’s Health Partners this unique research brings together psychology, psychiatry, paediatric neurology, neuroimaging and computational neuroscience to transform what we know about children’s brains.”

Professor Paola Dazzan, Professor of Neurobiology of Psychosis at King’s, and Co-Lead for Psychosis and Mood Disorders at the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, said:

"By characterizing neurodevelopment from the prenatal period through childhood, we can identify early brain signatures that forecast vulnerability to future mental health problems, including psychosis and mood disorders. This could provide a foundation for the development of targeted, developmentally timed interventions that may alter trajectories before psychopathology consolidates.”