News & Updates

Nearly half of adolescents who have had HIV since birth may be at increased risk for cardiovascular disease — including heart attack and stroke — later in life, according to a National Institutes of Health network study.

More than 30 percent of young males who had sex with other males and who were subsequently enrolled in a government treatment and research network were found to have high levels of HIV, reported researchers from the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

The December 2013 NICHD Research Perspectives features research on youth violence. Guests discuss types of violence, environmental and biological risk factors, characteristics of effective interventions, and tips for parents and caregivers to help prevent or stop youth violence.

An updated screening tool that physicians administer to parents to help determine if a very young child has autism has been shown to be much more accurate than earlier versions at identifying children who could benefit from further evaluation, according to researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Smoking tobacco or marijuana, taking prescription painkillers, or using illegal drugs during pregnancy is associated with double or even triple the risk of stillbirth, according to research funded by the National Institutes of Health.

To expedite research on brain disorders, the National Institutes of Health is shifting from a limited funding role to coordinating a Web-based resource for sharing post-mortem brain tissue. Under a NIH NeuroBioBank initiative, five brain banks will begin collaborating in a tissue sharing network for the neuroscience community.

The October/November NICHD Research Perspectives focuses on the importance of a safe sleep environment to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and other sleep-related causes of infant death.

A new policy has been posted on the NIH Web site that provides information for the extramural community on how NIH is resuming operations after the government shutdown.

In this Research Conversation, Drs. Marian Willinger and Eve Colson explain the findings reported in the NIH news release, Roughly 14 percent of infants share bed with adult or child. Sharing a bed, with an adult or another child, increases an infant’s risk of death from sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS or other sleep-related causes.

The percentage of nighttime caregivers who reported that an infant usually shares a bed with a parent, another adult, or a child more than doubled between 1993 and 2010, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

In recognition of National Infant Mortality Awareness Month, the federal agencies focused on infant health and safety, ask all organizations who reach families and health care providers through media, print, and education to show infants sleeping alone, on their backs, and in a clutter-free crib, bassinet, or play yard.

The September NICHD Research Perspectives featured a discussion on NIH grants for projects investigating genomic sequencing as a diagnostic tool to screen newborns for health disorders. On September 4, the NICHD and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) awarded $5 million to fund studies on the potential for the new technology. The September podcast is an excerpt from the news conference in which officials at the NICHD and NHGRI described this new project.

The National Institutes of Health has launched DS-Connect, a Web-based health registry that will serve as a national health resource for people with Down syndrome and their families, researchers, and health care providers.

More than 65 percent of HIV-infected youth had mild to moderate impairments in fine-motor skills, memory, and other cognitive skills, although not enough to affect day-to-day functioning for most, according to a National Institutes of Health network study.

In this Research Conversation, NICHD’s Dr. John Ilekis interviewed NICHD grantees Yoel Sadovsky and Dr. Carolyn coin about their discovery that cells of the placenta secrete tiny, balloon like structures called vesicles.

For this research conversation, NICHD’s Dr. Tonse Raju spoke with grantee Dr. Virender Rehan on his study of rats given nicotine during their pregnancies.

For children who have been HIV-infected since birth, current anti-HIV drug regimens may protect against the delays in puberty that had been seen in HIV-infected children taking older regimens, according to researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Brett Miller spoke with NICHD grantee Dr. Tom Mitchell, on using computers to recognize spoken words by analyzing the brain activity patterns of listeners.

A new test for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB)in children detects roughly two-thirds of cases identified by the current culture test, but in a fraction of the time, according to the results of a study in South Africa supported by the National Institutes of Health.

The combinations of anti-HIV drugs recommended for pregnant women do not appear in general to increase their children’s risk for language delay, according to a study from a National Institutes of Health research network.