About Us

Our Purpose

Funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) of the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA), the Life Course Intervention Research Network (LCIRN) is a collaborative research and learning network. The LCIRN brings together a diverse group of researchers, health care providers, and family/community stakeholders to develop and promote transformational changes to the ways we improve health outcomes over the life span. Applying the life course health development framework, the LCIRN supports researchers to identify opportunities for developing, implementing, and evaluating new approaches to optimize children’s health development trajectories.

The LCIRN builds on the conceptual work of the Life Course Research Network (LCRN), funded by MCHB and led by UCLA from 2010-2019. Using our understanding of the mechanisms of life course health development, the LCIRN will incubate research on effective ways to intervene at key points in development, at the most appropriate social level, in order to have optimal impact.

Our Objectives

IDENTIFY
Identify gaps in what we know about precisely when and how to intervene for optimal outcomes
DEVELOP
Develop and support the implementation of a research agenda that can fill those gaps
PROMOTE
Promote methodologies and data that provide researchers with better tools and information
Train the next generation of life course-informed researchers

Guiding Principles

The ability of individuals to reach their full potential is influenced by resilience and risk factors throughout life, with certain periods of development being more sensitive or influential than others (plasticity and timing)
ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK
Children are born, live, learn and grow in an ecosystem including family, social and community contexts which all impact the individual’s life course trajectory and health outcomes
SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE
Programs, services, and other protective factors should be integrated both within and outside the healthcare system to create a seamless health-optimizing ecosystem
EQUITY & JUSTICE
The ability to thrive is greatly impacted by systemic factors including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, immigrant rights, among others; thus, the promotion of equity and justice must be central to this work in order to help all individuals thrive
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT / CODESIGN
Patients, families, community members, and local organizations should be actively involved in designing, implementing, evaluating, and disseminating results of interventions that affect them.

Our Values

Comprehensive participatory co-design of research with communities

Research that has practical applications and considers the challenges of implementation and scalability

Continuous learning and innovation

Bringing a social justice and equity lens to all aspects of research

A sense of urgency to solve pressing problems that are creating barriers to health and well-being

A willingness to disrupt and transform existing systems in order to optimize outcomes for everyone