As 2018 winds down, a new slideshow highlights a selection of initiatives, therapies, and scientific advances supported by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
News
NICHD issues News Releases and Media Advisories to the news media. Spotlight and Research Feature articles explain NICHD research findings and public health issues to the general public. An Item of Interest is a short announcement of relevant information, such as a notable staff change.
Spotlight: Selected NICHD Research Advances of 2018
In 2018, researchers funded by NICHD made significant progress in advancing the health and well-being of infants, children, teenagers, and adults across the United States and around the world.
Release: NIH to fund national data collection on new mothers with disabilities
Collaboration with CDC aimed at evaluating pregnancy initiatives and outcomes
Release: NIH, DoD to Develop Limb Loss and Preservation Registry
National repository aims to improve rehabilitation and quality of life for people who have lost a limb.
Science Update: Brain stimulation treatment may help children with cerebral palsy recover limb function, NICHD funded study suggests
Using a mild electrical current to either boost or inhibit the brain’s own electrical impulses may one day help rehabilitate its function, according to researchers funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
NIH-funded rehabilitation technologies receive FDA clearance
Devices bolster function and ability for people with disabilities or injuries.
Monitoring brain electrical activity after head injury may help predict decline in function
A technique that monitors the brain’s electrical activity could one day be used to predict which children who have had a traumatic brain injury (TBI) are likely to suffer progressive brain damage, according to a small study funded in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), a component of the National Institutes of Health.
Biomarker in blood may help predict recovery time for sports concussions
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health found that the blood protein tau could be an important new clinical biomarker to better identify athletes who need more recovery time before safely returning to play after a sports-related concussion.
Spotlight: NICHD Needs Your Input for the All of Us Research Program
NICHD needs your input for NIH’s All of Us program.
NIH funds development of robots to improve health, quality of life
As part of the National Robotics Initiative (NRI), the National Institutes of Health announced that it will fund the development of three innovative co-robots—robots that work cooperatively with people.
Cernich appointed director of NICHD’s National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research
NICHD Director Alan E. Guttmacher announced that, after an extensive national search, Alison Cernich, Ph.D., has been selected as Director of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research.
NICHD Co-Sponsors White House Disability Summit
More than 50 million Americans, about 1 in 5 people, are living with a disability. People with disabilities tend to be less physically active than people without disabilities and have higher rates of corresponding health problems such as obesity, heart disease, hypertension and stroke.
Scientists plug into a learning brain
Learning is easier when it only requires nerve cells to rearrange existing patterns of activity than when the nerve cells have to generate new patterns, a study of monkeys has found. The scientists explored the brain’s capacity to learn through recordings of electrical activity of brain cell networks. The study was partly funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Training Can Improve Learning for Adolescents with Traumatic Brain Injury
A new therapy promises to shorten the recovery time for young people who have suffered a brain injury. It’s called “gist training,” and it involves getting the essence from complex information instead of memorizing facts.
NIH and NFL tackle concussion research
The National Institutes of Health has selected eight projects to receive support to answer some of the most fundamental problems on traumatic brain injury, including understanding long-term effects of repeated head injuries and improving diagnosis of concussions.
Wireless, implanted sensor broadens range of brain research
A compact, self-contained sensor recorded and transmitted brain activity data wirelessly for more than a year in early stage animal tests, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Paralyzed Individuals Use Thought-Controlled Robotic Arm to Reach & Grasp
In an ongoing clinical trial, a paralyzed woman was able to reach for and sip from a drink on her own – for the first time in nearly 15 years – by using her thoughts to direct a robotic arm. The trial, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, is evaluating the safety and feasibility of an investigational device called the BrainGate neural interface system. This is a type of brain-computer interface (BCI) intended to put robotics and other assistive technology under the brain's control.
Members Appointed to Blue Ribbon Medical Rehabilitation Research Panel
Thirteen scientists have been appointed to a blue ribbon panel that will review medical rehabilitation research at the National Institutes of Health.
NIH-funded centers to assist rehabilitation researchers
The National Institutes of Health has provided approximately $30 million over a five year period to fund a network of centers to advance medical rehabilitation research. The centers provide researchers with access to new technologies and resources.
National Children's Study Begins Recruiting At 30 Newly Activated Locations
The National Children's Study has initiated recruitment at 30 study locations around the United States. The Study is the largest long-term study of children's health ever conducted in the United States, and will follow 100,000 children from before birth to age 21 to learn how the environment influences children's health, development, and quality of life. Study researchers seek to enroll women who are pregnant or may become pregnant in the next few years.