News & Updates

The NICHD Division of Special Populations recently cosponsored a 5-Kilometer Run/Walk/Roll to raise awareness of infant mortality, one of the most important indicators of a nation's health. The event was cosponsored by First Candle, the NIH Office of Research Services, the NIH Recreation and Welfare Association, the NIH Federal Credit Union, National Healthy Start, Inc., the Baltimore City Healthy Start; the Office of Minority Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Prenatal steroids--given to pregnant women at risk for giving birth prematurely--appear to improve survival and limit brain injury among infants born as early as the 23rd week of pregnancy, according to a study by a National Institutes of Health research network.

The NICHD is conducting a national search for an Associate Director for Extramural Research. This position offers a unique and exciting opportunity for an extremely capable individual to develop and implement an overall vision for the Institute's extramural research activities, which include more than 3,100 projects and involve 130 staff members.

The NICHD continues to advance understanding of the effects of HIV/AIDS on infants, children, young people, women, and families.

On November 14, 2011, NICHD Director Alan Guttmacher, M.D., joined several other NIH Institute Directors in discussing NIH neuroscience research during the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington, D.C. Dr. Guttmacher highlighted some of the exciting neuroscience findings that NICHD researchers presented at the meeting.

Toddlers receiving anti-HIV drugs have higher cholesterol levels, on average, than do their peers who do not have HIV, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

On this World Pneumonia Day, it is important to keep in mind that a major impediment stands in the way of global efforts to prevent childhood pneumonia.

Since the Back to Sleep campaign began in 1994, the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) rate in the United States has decreased by more than 50 percent. This decrease occurred not only in the overall U.S. SIDS rate, but also in the SIDS rates for different racial/ethnic groups. The decrease is more than just a number—it represents thousands of infant lives.

Representatives of the agencies in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with a focus on infant health and safety today expressed their support for the new infant safe sleep recommendations issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

Midway through SIDS Awareness Month and in the midst of its annual conference, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released updated recommendations for promoting infant safe sleep.

The World Health Organization cites indoor air pollution from cooking fires and stoves as the leading cause of environmental death in the world today.

At the recent 145th meeting of the NICHD’s advisory council, NICHD Director Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., presented some of the main concepts that have emerged from the Institute’s year-long scientific Vision process. These draft concepts will form the basis for the NICHD’s formal scientific Vision statement, which will be finalized in late 2011 or early 2012.

Pregnant women who are assaulted by an intimate partner are at increased risk of giving birth to infants of reduced weight, according to a population-level analysis of domestic violence supported by the National Institutes of Health.

In June, the world marked the 30th anniversary of the first case of what is now known as AIDS. The NICHD Spotlight, 30 Years of Milestones, highlighted some of the key moments in pediatric, adolescent, and maternal AIDS research.

The National Children's Study is changing its approach to informatics--the science of classifying, cataloging, storing, analyzing, and retrieving information, study officials announced today.

Pharmacists play a unique role in providing personalized health care. In many communities, they do much more than just fill prescriptions—they also provide health care and health advice to parents, children, and families on topics ranging from prenatal vitamins to maintaining a healthy weight to infant care. Sometimes, people see and interact with the pharmacist more than they do with any other health care provider.

NIH-funded scientists have developed a strain of mice with a built-in off switch that can selectively shut down the animals' serotonin-producing cells, which make up a brain network controlling breathing, temperature regulation, and mood. The switch controls only the serotonin-producing cells, and does not affect any other cells in the animal's brains or bodies.

Each year, the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics releases a report about the current state of health and well being of the nation’s children. This snapshot not only provides the most recent statistics available, but also compares these data to previous years, to give a good overview of the health and well being of U.S. children, youth, and families.

The adolescent birth rate declined for the second consecutive year, preterm births declined for the third consecutive year, adolescent injury deaths declined, and fewer 12th graders binge drank, according to the federal government's annual statistical report on the well-being of the nation's children and youth.