Director's Corner

Reflecting on NICHD’s 60th Anniversary Year

Images of a smiling little boy who has Down Syndrome and is wearing glasses, a pregnant woman showing off her post-vaccination band-aid, a sleeping newborn baby, and a seated woman holding her partner’s hand appear within the numerals “2022” against a grey background. Posted on 01/05/2023

Research conducted at NICHD and at NICHD-funded institutions continues to bring us closer to fulfilling our vision of ensuring healthy pregnancies, healthy children, and healthy and optimal lives.

The Promise of Precision Nutrition Research

Multi-ethnic, multi-generational family members prepare a holiday dinner together in their home kitchen. Posted on 12/05/2022

What defines eating for health? Clearly, there is no one-size-fits-all healthy diet. The emerging field of precision nutrition aims to deliver personalized dietary recommendations to optimize health and quality of life based on an individual’s genetics, gut microbes, and other biological, lifestyle, environmental, and social factors.

Expanding Contraceptive Choices

Foil packs, multicolored latex condoms, and a blister pack of pills. Posted on 11/07/2022

A safe, highly effective, reversible method of male contraception would fill an important public health need. Additionally, multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs)—products that prevent both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections—would increase sexual and reproductive health options for both women and men. NICHD supports a broad range of contraceptive research, including efforts to develop male contraceptives and MPTs.

Reflecting on the Past and Looking to the Future

A pregnant woman wearing a white shirt and yellow cardigan lies on a couch with her toddler daughter, whose hand is placed on her mother’s belly. NICHD 60 years of innovation. Healthy pregnancies. Healthy children. Healthy and optimal lives. Logos of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services and NICHD. Posted on 10/11/2022

This October, NICHD celebrates its 60th anniversary and holds the first meeting of a new task force examining stillbirth in the United States. NICHD Director Dr. Diana W. Bianchi looks forward to future progress toward the institute’s goals of promoting healthy pregnancies, raising healthy children, and ensuring healthy and optimal lives.

Crowdsourcing to Advance Maternal Health Research

Five pregnant women sit in a circle talking with two large windows in
the background. Posted on 09/15/2022

Challenge competitions offer a mechanism to quickly bring in diverse voices and expertise to innovate and problem-solve. This month, NICHD and partners launched two challenges focused on improving our nation’s maternal health: the RADx^® Tech for Maternal Health Challenge and the Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge.