News

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a test to evaluate the expressive language skills of people with Down syndrome, a condition resulting from an extra copy or piece of chromosome 21. Expressive language is the use of words to convey meaning to others. Language delays are common in people with Down syndrome, and the study authors believe their test provides a more effective way to evaluate prospective language interventions, compared to current evaluation methods.

Looking back and looking ahead. NICHD Director Dr. Diana W. Bianchi joins other leaders across NIH in reflecting on the work of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) program and discussing plans for the future.

Current vaccines to prevent COVID-19 are highly effective in producing antibodies in pregnant people, resulting in more antibodies than what is generated from a natural SARS-CoV-2 virus infection, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Moreover, antibodies produced after vaccination are present in breastmilk and travel across the placenta, indicating that vaccination during pregnancy will also confer immunity to newborns.

Pregnant women who consumed the caffeine equivalent of as little as half a cup of coffee a day on average had slightly smaller babies than pregnant women who did not consume caffeinated beverages, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

The National Institutes of Health and the District of Columbia government are teaming up to raise awareness among District parents and caregivers about how to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome and other sleep-related causes of infant death, such as accidental suffocation.

For many COVID-19 patients, full recovery remains elusive even long after they should feel “better.” NIH recently announced research opportunities to understand COVID-19 long haulers, who have what researchers now refer to as Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). NICHD joins these opportunities while remaining focused on PASC patients within our audiences of interest—pregnant and lactating people, children, and those with disabilities.

Children in high-poverty neighborhoods who participated in a comprehensive preschool program that provided parents with health and educational services and job training had a lower body mass index in their late 30s than a similar group who participated in the usual early childhood programs, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study authors concluded that comprehensive, school-based early childhood programs could lead to improvements in body mass index later in life.

NIH researchers have identified additional symptoms of EPAS1 gain-of-function syndrome, a rare disease resulting in hormone-secreting tumors and an increase in red blood cells.

Women facing eviction from their homes while they were pregnant are more likely to have poor birth outcomes, compared to women who faced eviction before or after they were pregnant, according to a study funded in part by NICHD.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health led an international team to develop consensus guidelines on the appropriate use of a specialized form of radiation therapy for patients with pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma—rare cancers— that have spread.

The National Institutes of Health has launched a new research effort to understand how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, affects children, who account for roughly 13% of the total cases of COVID-19 in the United States. The effort is called the Collaboration to Assess Risk and Identify LoNG-term Outcomes for Children with COVID (CARING for Children with COVID).

Described by the acronym UNITE, the National Institutes of Health’s new initiative seeks to eliminate the pernicious threat of structural racism from the agency, the institutions it supports, and wherever NIH research takes place. In tandem with UNITE, NICHD’s STRIVE initiative seeks to reinforce workforce equity and inclusion, foster diversity in the institute’s external workforce, and identify new research opportunities to reduce such drivers of health disparity as structural racism and discrimination.

A video and coaching intervention program for at-risk mothers and infants increases parent-child interactions and helps to improve children’s social, emotional and language development, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

A new study funded by the National Institutes of Health will evaluate the effects of remdesivir in pregnant women who have been prescribed the drug to treat COVID-19. The study, which will be conducted at 17 sites in the continental United States and Puerto Rico, aims to determine how pregnant women metabolize the drug and whether there are any potential side effects.

Meet Kyla Roland and Jacob Olondo-Kuba, who are part of NICHD’s Developing Talent Scholars Program.

Pregnant people need to be protected through research rather than from research, the authors contend.

As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, SARS-CoV-2 vaccines offer the potential to halt the spread of the virus. Yet, we know very little about the effectiveness and safety of the vaccines during pregnancy.

A hormone-releasing intrauterine device (IUD) appears to be as effective at emergency contraception as a copper IUD, suggests a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The hormone-releasing IUD contains levonorgestrel, a synthetic form of the reproductive hormone progesterone. Compared to the copper IUD, the levonorgestrel IUD has been shown to reduce heavy bleeding and menstrual discomfort.

When dealing with families with limited English language proficiency, pediatric emergency department practitioners were more likely to use professional interpreters for taking medical histories and less likely to use them when administering medication and performing medical procedures, according to a study of 50 cases funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The study also found that professional interpreters were used for only 36% of communication events with families low in English proficiency.

NIH-funded study suggests mother-to-infant transmission appears to be rare