News & Updates

A self-report tool developed with NICHD funding gathers feedback from lower-limb prosthesis wearers to better assess mobility challenges and inform treatment. Its use in clinical settings worldwide is changing the rehabilitation landscape and spurring the creation of similar tools for other audiences.

Small businesses play a critical role in driving scientific progress by helping to move innovations out of labs and into the public marketplace. NICHD grants to small businesses have supported development of products ranging from the first FDA-approved endometriosis treatment to at-home rehabilitation devices.

A program with intervals of high-intensity walking promotes greater gains in fitness for stroke patients than the currently recommended program of moderate-intensity walking, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study enrolled chronic stroke patients—those at least six months past their stroke—often considered more difficult to rehabilitate than recent stroke patients.

Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2022.

Some physicians are declining to care for patients with disabilities, saying they lack the knowledge required to care for them, suggests a focus group study of American physicians funded by the National Institutes of Health. Moreover, many physicians in the study said they had limited training on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, and some said they felt overwhelmed by the ADA requirements.

The nine winning teams and five honorable mentions designed technology solutions to unmet health care needs.

Among military members and veterans relying on service dogs for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), those whose dogs were rated as less excitable scored lower on PTSD severity, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Those paired with less excitable service dogs also tended to have a closer relationship with the dog, compared to those with more excitable dogs. The authors concluded that pairing service members with less excitable service dogs could potentially lessen their PTSD symptoms.

Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2021.

More than a third of U.S. physicians do not know their legal requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities, according to a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). More than 70% of physicians did not know that they share responsibility with patients to determine reasonable accommodations—how to adjust policies, practices, and procedures to ensure patient care.

The newly published 2021 NIH Research Plan on Rehabilitation reflects advances since the previous plan was released in 2016 and new directions that will help guide rehabilitation research across NIH for the next five years.

Findings on Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT) may inform updates to clinical practice guidelines.

Dr. Bianchi reflects on the life and contributions of Eunice Kennedy Shriver ahead of Mrs. Shriver’s 100th birthday and how improving equity, diversity, and inclusion at NICHD continues Mrs. Shriver’s work.

Read about the career and achievements of NICHD Deputy Director Dr. Alison Cernich.

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.

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.

2020 was a year filled with many challenges. NICHD remained focused on our core mission, advancing key research in women’s health, reproductive science, rare childhood diseases and many more. Watch the video below and review our research highlights of 2020.

Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2020.

Physicians could improve prescribing practices for children with severe neurological impairments by periodically administering parent questionnaires to assess the children’s symptoms, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Such routine assessments could help detect adverse effects of drug interactions or cases in which medications have been under or overprescribed.

The National Center for Medical Rehabilitation was established in 1990 through the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act.

Our National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research has advanced the field with significant achievements over the past 30 years that have improved the health, independence and quality of life of people with disabilities.