News & Updates

​Alan Guttmacher, M.D., Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) announced a number of changes to streamline the institute’s organizational structure and accelerate the exchange of scientific ideas.

A document charting a research course for the many collaborators who share an interest in promoting the science concerning human development through the life span, child health, women's health, and rehabilitation research is now available online.

As the Institute marks its golden anniversary, we look back on the NICHD's early years, its scientific accomplishments, and its future.

GDM is a condition that occurs when a pregnant woman who did not have previously diagnosed diabetes has high blood glucose levels. It is among the most common disorders of pregnancy, affecting between 2% and 10% of pregnancies in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Preeclampsia is a syndrome that occurs during pregnancy and is marked by a sudden increase in the blood pressure of a pregnant woman after the 20th week of pregnancy. It can affect the mother's kidneys, liver, and brain. The condition can be fatal for the mother and/or the baby and can lead to long-term health problems.

​Preterm births have fallen for the fifth straight year in a row, reported the National Center for Health Statistics of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in one of its recent National Vital Statistics Reports. This welcome decline was seen for all groups, and for each stage of pregnancy.

​Oral medication for treating a type of incontinence in women is roughly as effective as Botox injections to the bladder, reported researchers who conducted a National Institutes of Health clinical trials network study, with each form of treatment having benefits and limitations.

​Lynne Mofenson, M.D., Chief of the Pediatric, Adolescent and Maternal AIDS Branch, received the Federal Employee of the Year Award from the Partnership for Public Service. The award is one of nine Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals bestowed on public servants who make "high-impact contributions to the health, safety and well-being of Americans."

The July 2012 NICHD Research Perspectives, the NICHD’s monthly podcast, is now online.  This month’s podcast features research sponsored by the NICHD’s Pediatric, Adolescent and Maternal AIDS Branch.

Adding the drug nevirapine to the regimen given to newborns of women diagnosed with HIV shortly before or during labor halves the newborns' risk of contracting the virus, according to findings by a National Institutes of Health research network.

Surgery to repair pelvic organ prolapse often carries a risk of incontinence. To avoid scheduling a second surgery, some women may opt to have a second procedure to reduce incontinence at the time of their prolapse repair surgery.

Secretary Sebelius addressed the researchers at the Network's Annual Steering Committee meeting this month. The Network, established by the NICHD and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, seeks to prevent maternal and infant deaths and illnesses worldwide. Scientists from developing countries, together with those in the United States, lead teams that identify the health needs of an area and address those needs through randomized clinical trials to test treatments and interventions.

During their lifetimes, many women will face a wide array of health issues. Some will seek treatment for gynecological conditions, such as endometriosis and uterine cancer. Others will experience conditions that affect both males and females, but that follow a different course in women, such as heart disease. Women's health is also affected by factors like socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity, sometimes in ways that they cannot control directly.

Although it could affect anywhere from 9% to 18% or more of women age 18 to 64 at any time during their lives, there are few definitive answers about vulvodynia—a group of conditions characterized by unexplained pain of the vulva.

Infants born to women who used the anti-HIV drug tenofovir as part of an anti-HIV drug regimen during pregnancy do not weigh less at birth and are not of shorter length than infants born to women who used anti-HIV drug regimens that do not include tenofovir during pregnancy, according to findings from a National Institutes of Health network study.

Authors S. Katherine Laughon and Branch Ware were available last week for a news briefing to explain the results of their recent study on changing labor patterns.

In 2011, the NICHD-led Endometriosis: Natural History, Diagnosis, and Outcomes (ENDO) study found that 11 percent of a group of women with no symptoms of endometriosis actually had the disorder. If this finding is applied to all the women in the United States, the number of American women with endometriosis would well exceed previous estimates of 5 million.

HIV/AIDS continues to be a serious public health concern. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 290,000 women were living with HIV in the United States in 2008.

The newly released 2011 DIR Annual Report reviews the latest basic, clinical, and translational research being pursued by the staff scientists within DIR at the NICHD. Contributing to this effort are 79 tenured and tenure-track investigators and approximately 1,200 administrative and research staff. In 2011, DIR project areas ranged from vaccine development to genomics, from reproduction to regenerative medicine, and from the neurosciences and early human development to biophysics and imaging.

Treatment with vitamin D reduced the size of uterine fibroids in laboratory rats predisposed to developing the benign tumors, reported researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.