The Division of Intramural Research provides fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living
systems through basic, clinical, and population-based research.
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.
Item of Interest: NIH awards interim prizes in fetal diagnostic and monitoring technology competition
NIH has announced finalists in its competition to accelerate the development of diagnostic and monitoring
technologies to improve fetal health outcomes.
Spotlight: Looking Back on NICHD in 2023
As we ring in 2024, we’d like to take a brief look back on our accomplishments during 2023. These activities illustrate the institute’s continued commitment to research and training in its mission areas.
Director's Corner: Addressing the Tragedy of Stillbirth
Each year, more than 20,000 families in the United States experience a stillbirth, the loss of a fetus at 20 weeks or more of gestation. Stillbirth is a traumatic event that takes a devastating, lifelong psychological toll on families. October marks Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, making this an opportune time to reflect on the work we must do to better understand the causes of—and ultimately prevent—these tragedies.
Release: NIH designates people with disabilities as a population with health disparities
NIH has designated people with disabilities as a population with health disparities for research. People with disabilities often experience a wide and varying range of health conditions leading to poorer health and shorter lifespan. In addition, discrimination, inequality, and exclusionary structural practices, programs, and policies inhibit access to timely and comprehensive health care, which further results in poorer health outcomes.
Release: NIH launches $2 million prize competition to spur innovation in fetal diagnostic and monitoring technologies
NIH will award up to $2 million in cash prizes as part of its Fetal Monitoring Challenge to accelerate development of diagnostic and monitoring technologies that improve fetal health outcomes in low-resource settings. U.S. scientists, engineers, and clinicians can submit innovative approaches and compete for prizes and resources to support technology development and clinical impact, with a focus on point-of-care and home-based diagnostic and monitoring technologies that may reduce fetal health risk and loss during and after birth.
Director's Corner: Preventing Pediatric Injuries
With its longer days and warmer temperatures, summer is an ideal season for outdoor recreation. But fun activities like swimming also carry the risk of injuries, especially among children. NICHD supports a broad spectrum of research that seeks to prevent and treat pediatric injuries from drowning to dog bites.
Spotlight: Scientific Advances from the Division of Intramural Research
The Division of Intramural Research provides fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems through basic, clinical, and population-based research.
Director's Corner: Optimizing Care for Newborns
For nearly four decades, NICHD’s Neonatal Research Network (NRN) has generated scientific evidence to improve the health of critically ill newborns. Recent findings from the NRN and collaborators mark an
important step toward developing an evidence-based standard of care for newborns who were exposed to opioids during pregnancy.
Release: “Eat, Sleep, Console” reduces hospital stay and need for medication among opioid-exposed infants
Researchers have found the “Eat, Sleep, Console” (ESC) care approach to be more effective than using the Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Scoring Tool (FNAST) to assess and manage opioid-exposed newborns, according to a national clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Item of Interest: NIH selects next round of winners in the RADx® Tech for Maternal Health Challenge
The National Institutes of Health announced the next round of winners of its RADx® Tech for Maternal Health Challenge—an $8 million prize competition to accelerate development of technologies to improve maternal health outcomes.
Media Advisory: New MRI method provides detailed view of the placenta during pregnancy
NIH-funded technique enables automatic detection of placental compartments, oxygen status and structural abnormalities.
Selected NICHD Research Advances of 2022
Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2022.
Spotlight: Scientific Advances from the Division of Intramural Research
The Division of Intramural Research provides fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems through basic, clinical, and population-based research.
Spotlight: Advancing neuroscience research for children around the world
Eight years ago, NIH announced a collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop solutions for a variety of global health challenges. Learn how NICHD research is supporting this goal.
Science Update: Pregnancy-associated homicides on the rise in the United States, suggests NICHD-funded study
U.S. rates of pregnancy-associated homicide—deaths that occur among women who are pregnant or had been pregnant within one year—rose in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent NICHD-funded study.
Release: NIH launches $8 million prize competition to reduce maternal deaths in regions that lack maternity care
The National Institutes of Health is offering up to $8 million in cash prizes to accelerate development of technologies to improve maternal health outcomes for those who live in areas lacking access to maternity care.
Science Update: Antiviral drug TEMPOL effective in hamster model of COVID-19, suggests NICHD-led study
The experimental drug TEMPOL prevents viral replication and reduces disease severity in a hamster model of COVID-19, according to a new study led by NICHD.
Release: Risk of premature death in adulthood influenced by patterns of early childhood adversity, NIH study suggests
Poverty, combined with other types of adversity in early childhood, is associated with greater chances of premature death in adulthood, compared to other adverse childhood experiences, according to a study of more than 46,000 people by researchers at the National Institutes of Health.
Spotlight: Small Business Success Stories
NICHD-funded small business programs have led to innovations for patients, healthcare providers, researchers, and more. Learn about these success stories.