Penn State will create the nation’s first center for child mistreatment studies after receiving a $7.7 million grant.

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development recently selected Penn State to receive the grant to fund the creation of the Center for Healthy Children based on scientific merit. The grant will total $7.7 million over five years to help further the efforts of the NICHD. Penn State committed more than $3.4 million to the center.

“The expertise, passion and dedication of our researchers are unparalleled and this grant exemplifies our strength in successful interdisciplinary collaborations, with leading experts from across the university,” Penn State President Eric Barron said in a press release.

The Center for Healthy Children will serve as a national center for child maltreatment research and training. Roughly two million children in the United States experience maltreatment each year, so the center hopes to turn its research into solutions and legislative recommendations.

The grant adds to the initial investment Penn State made in 2012 to create and support a network of researchers working to stop child maltreatment. Through this investment, Penn State was able to hire nine faculty members across five colleges.

The grant will help fund a variety of projects, including inviting approximately 1,200 children ages 8 to 13 from around Pennsylvania to participate in a study “focused on eradicating health disparities for children who have experienced the child welfare system.”

The grant will also fund clinical trails in pediatric intensive care units from across the country designed to assess the impact of a screening tool for pediatric abusive head trauma.

The College of Health and Human Development will dedicate space for the Center for Healthy Children.