NICHD News Releases

2012 Division of Intramural Research (DIR) Annual Report
One of the largest intramural divisions within the NIH, the NICHD’s DIR studies a diverse range of topics from molecular and cellular processes, to developmental endocrinology and genetics, to obstetric and perinatal research, to pediatric imaging. These and other research areas are the focus of the 2012 DIR Annual Report.

Teaching Youth to be Media Smart
The NICHD’s Media-Smart Youth: Eat, Think, and Be Active® program teaches young people how to be smart media consumers and make good choices about nutrition and physical activity.

Division of Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention Research 2012 Annual Report
This NICHD Division recently released its annual report highlighting research that covers a range of topics, from understanding fertility and preventing birth defects to promoting healthy lifestyles and behaviors and developing new ways to analyze data.

NICHD Director’s podcast features research on adolescent health behavior
The January 2013 NICHD Research Perspectives features adolescent health research undertaken by scientists in the institute’s Prevention Research Branch.

Celebrating 20 Years of Medical Rehabilitation Research
A new publication highlights the NICHD’s National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) 20th anniversary symposium, which commemorated the establishment of the NCMRR, described its activities, and featured the scientific advances in rehabilitation research that came from its support.

Scientific Vision: The Next Decade
The NICHD embarked upon a collaborative process in 2011 to create a scientific Vision, identifying the most promising scientific opportunities for the Institute and its partners to pursue over the next decade. The newly published Scientific Vision statement presents the results of that process and outlines scientific goals for the coming decade.

NICHD reorganizes extramural program
​Alan Guttmacher, M.D., Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) announced a number of changes to streamline the institute’s organizational structure and accelerate the exchange of scientific ideas.

NICHD vision statement now available online
A document charting a research course for the many collaborators who share an interest in promoting the science concerning human development through the life span, child health, women's health, and rehabilitation research is now available online.

Research for a Lifetime: Commemorating the NICHD’s 50th Anniversary
On October 17, 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed into law the legislation establishing the NICHD to examine “the complex process of human development from conception to old age.” The Institute marks its golden anniversary with Research for a Lifetime, an all-day scientific colloquium to highlight the Institute’s mission, accomplishments, and future research directions.

NIH Obesity Research Featured in HBO's The Weight of the Nation
Obesity is one of today's most pressing health issues facing this country. On May 14 and 15, 2012, HBO premieres The Weight of the Nation, a four-part documentary exploring the personal costs of and scientific advances related to obesity. The series reflects years of research supported by the NIH, including the NICHD, that has helped shape our understanding of obesity, as well as ways to prevent and treat it at every stage of life.

NIH Study Finds Women Spend Longer in Labor Now Than 50 Years Ago
Women take longer to give birth today than did women 50 years ago, according to an analysis of nearly 140,000 deliveries conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The researchers could not identify all of the factors that accounted for the increase, but concluded that the change is likely due to changes in delivery room practice.

Release of the 2011 Division of Intramural Research (DIR) Annual Report
​The NICHD's DIR recently released its annual research report, highlighting research achievements of DIR scientists during the last year.

High Animal Fat Diet Increases Gestational Diabetes Risk
Women who consumed a diet high in animal fat and cholesterol before pregnancy were at higher risk for gestational diabetes than women whose diets were lower in animal fat and cholesterol, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health and Harvard University.

NIH Effort Seeks to Identify Measures of Nutritional Status
The National Institutes of Health has undertaken a new program to discover, develop and distribute measures of nutritional status. The Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development (BOND) Program brings together experts in the field of nutrition to provide advice to researchers, clinicians, program- and policymakers, on the role of food and nutrition in health promotion and disease prevention.

Check Out the 2010 Division of Intramural Research (DIR) Annual Report
​Now available! The 2010 DIR Annual Report highlights the latest research conducted by DIR scientists at the NICHD and describes their recent research achievements.

NIH Study Shows How Insulin Stimulates Fat Cells to Take in Glucose
Using high-resolution microscopy, researchers at the National Institutes of Health have shown how insulin prompts fat cells to take in glucose in a rat model. The findings were reported in the Sept. 8 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.

With Your Help, We Can!
​Help We Can!® (Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity and Nutrition) select its video contest winner by voting for your favorite video.

NIH Study Finds That Overweight Girls Who Lose Weight Reduce Adult Diabetes Risk
Overweight girls who lose weight before they reach adulthood greatly reduced their risk for developing type 2 diabetes, according to researchers from the National Institutes of Health and Harvard University, who analyzed 16 years of data on nearly 110,000 women.

New Intramural Report Available
​Does the circulatory system of a zebrafish develop in the same order as the circulatory system of a mouse or a human? How does the biology of a cell change in response to stress in the environment? How do color-vision circuits between the eye and the brain use chemicals to detect color? Why are the bones of people with Osteogenesis imperfecta so fragile? Are animals and humans “wired” to respond to an infant’s cry in the same way?

Risk of Newborn Heart Defects Increases with Maternal Obesity
The more obese a woman is when she becomes pregnant, the greater the likelihood that she will give birth to an infant with a congenital heart defect, according to a study conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and the New York state Department of Health.