HARRISBURG — A new research program at Penn State aims to improve the health of neglected and abused children.

Penn State said Tuesday it will establish the Center for Healthy Children at its main campus, supported by nearly $8 million from the National Institutes for Health. The university is putting in more than $3 million.

The program will supplement the university’s Child Maltreatment Solutions Network, established in response to the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal.

Penn State said that besides trying to improve children’s health, the center will work to advocate changes to law and government policy and to expand research in the field.

“If we don’t prevent child maltreatment, we’re going to see these kids in all kinds of systems, like juvenile justice or Medicaid, where these health disparities lead these kids to,” said Jennie Noll, a human development and family studies professor at Penn State who heads the network and is the federal grant’s principle investigator.

Abused children as a group tend to have more problems with a range of health issues, Noll said, including obesity, sexually transmitted disease, teen pregnancy, depression and anxiety.

Over four years, Penn State will bring in 1,200 children ages 8 to 13 and their families.

The children will be evaluated, provided referrals for untreated issues and given health information. They will return every two years for follow-up research.