NICHD News Releases

Drug safety for children and pregnant women topic of March NICHD Director’s Podcast
Once the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves a drug, physicians can use their best judgment to prescribe it to their patients—whether or not their patients are similar to those who took part in the clinical trials. Physicians can also prescribe drugs for diseases or conditions other than those for which they were originally tested.

Delay in shifting gaze linked to early brain development in autism
At 7 months of age, children who are later diagnosed with autism take a split second longer to shift their gaze during a task measuring eye movements and visual attention than do typically developing infants of the same age, according to researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health.

March Is Trisomy Awareness Month
The term “trisomy” refers to conditions characterized by having 3 copies of a chromosome, instead of the usual 2-copy pair. An extra chromosome causes health problems ranging from mild intellectual and developmental disability, to severe physical problems. During Trisomy Awareness Month, the NICHD highlights the important role research plays in helping families and patients address challenges associated with trisomy conditions, such as Down syndrome.

Birth Defects Prevention Month and NICHD Research Advances
Understanding the causes of birth defects has been a primary goal of the NICHD since its establishment. During Birth Defects Prevention Month, the NICHD reflects on its research in structural birth defects as well as the significant advancements made to date in determining the causes, prevention, and treatments of birth defects.

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.

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.

Prenatal intervention reduces learning deficit in mice
​Mice with a condition that serves as a laboratory model for Down syndrome perform better on memory and learning tasks as adults if they were treated before birth with neuroprotective peptides, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

Extra Zs Spell Better Health
​Between work/school, errands, and social activities, sleep is often the first thing we cut back on to make room in a busy schedule. Yet sleep is critical to overall health and to restoring health after an illness or injury. The NICHD pursues research on the mechanisms of sleep, its effects on body functions, and the impact of its absence. Back to school time often requires some adjustments to schedules, including sleep schedules. As families get back into the school mode, the Institute highlights its research on the many aspects of sleep and health.

NIH Awards $100 Million for Autism Centers of Excellence Program
​The National Institutes of Health has announced grant awards of $100 million over five years for the Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) research program, which will feature projects investigating sex differences in autism spectrum disorders, or ASD, and investigating ASD and limited speech.

NIH seeks Proposals to Study Genomic Sequencing in Newborn Period
​The National Institutes of Health is seeking proposals for research projects on the implications of information obtained from sequencing the genome to identify diseases in newborns. The intent of funding such projects is to further the understanding of disorders that appear during the newborn period and to improve treatments for these diseases.

June NICHD Director's Podcast Now Online
The June 2012 NICHD Research Perspectives—NICHD' monthly podcast series—features discussions of a treatment that reduces the body temperatures of infants who experience oxygen deficiency at birth, the effectiveness of progesterone as a treatment for the infertility associated with polycystic ovary syndrome, and the influence that engaging the attention of young children with autism has on their language development.

For Young Children with Autism, Directing Attention Boosts Language
An intervention in which adults actively engaged the attention of preschool children with autism by pointing to toys and using other gestures to focus their attention results in a long term increase in language skills, according to researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Variation in Brain Development Seen in Infants with Autism
Patterns of brain development in the first two years of life are distinct in children who are later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), according to researchers in a network funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study results show differences in brain structure at 6 months of age, the earliest such structural changes have been recorded in ASDs.

NIH Conference on Phenylketonuria (PKU) Research Advances
​The NICHD joins the NIH Offices of Rare Diseases Research and Dietary Supplements in co-sponsoring a conference on phenylketonuria (PKU), a genetic disorder of metabolism and one of the first conditions detected through newborn screening programs. At this public event, diverse participants will discuss research advances in PKU and will help shape the future of PKU research.

The Long-Lasting Effects of Preterm Birth
​​Recent findings from three NICHD-supported studies show that the effects of preterm birth don’t end once the infant leaves the neonatal intensive care unit. Effects on an infant’s stress system, social interactions, brain patterns, and cognition last well into childhood.

NICHD Highlights Neuroscience Research
​​Neuroscience research plays a critical role in advancing the NICHD mission of improving the health of children, adults, families, and populations across the lifespan. The NICHD Director showcased some innovative research findings from the Institute's neuroscience research portfolio at the 41st annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

Down Syndrome Consortium Formed
The National Institutes of Health has joined with organizations interested in Down syndrome to form a consortium that will foster the exchange of information on biomedical and biobehavioral research on the chromosomal condition.

Spina Bifida Surgery In the Womb Decreases Complications
​Findings from an NICHD-funded study on treatment for the most common and most severe form of spina bifida, called myelomeningocele, shows that surgery done while the baby is still in the womb decreases complications related to the condition and improves outcomes better than the standard treatment of surgery done after birth.

Researchers Tie Gene Variations to Alteration in Brain Network
Brain images of youth who have a variation in a gene associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) revealed an altered pattern of in the brain's connective wiring, according to researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.