News & Updates

Understanding Down syndrome—its mechanisms, its effects on overall health, and ways to minimize its symptoms—has been an important part of the NICHD mission since it was established. The Institute is launching the DS-Connect®: The Down Syndrome Registry in an effort to create a centralized, secure national resource for storing and sharing health information about Down syndrome.

The National Institutes of Health has launched DS-Connect, a Web-based health registry that will serve as a national health resource for people with Down syndrome and their families, researchers, and health care providers.

Can sequencing of newborns’ genomes provide useful medical information beyond what current newborn screening already provides? Pilot projects to examine this important question are being funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), both parts of the National Institutes of Health.

More than 65 percent of HIV-infected youth had mild to moderate impairments in fine-motor skills, memory, and other cognitive skills, although not enough to affect day-to-day functioning for most, according to a National Institutes of Health network study.

This month’s NICHD Research Perspectives podcast focuses on adrenal gland disorders and research conducted by NICHD staff at the NIH Clinical Center.

A variety of factors can make it difficult for women to maintain a healthy weight during pregnancy. But recent NICHD supported research affirms the importance of not gaining too much weight during pregnancy to reduce the risk for complications.

In this Research Conversation, NICHD’s Dr. John Ilekis interviewed NICHD grantees Yoel Sadovsky and Dr. Carolyn coin about their discovery that cells of the placenta secrete tiny, balloon like structures called vesicles.

For this research conversation, NICHD’s Dr. Tonse Raju spoke with grantee Dr. Virender Rehan on his study of rats given nicotine during their pregnancies.

For children who have been HIV-infected since birth, current anti-HIV drug regimens may protect against the delays in puberty that had been seen in HIV-infected children taking older regimens, according to researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Tonse N. K. Raju, M.D., was named Chief of the Pregnancy and Perinatology Branch (PPB) on August 8, 2013.

In a Notice of Intent, officials at NICHD and other NIH institutes and centers announced that they plan to continue a program supporting research collaborations between Extramural researchers (those outside the NIH) and Intramural researchers (those within the NIH). The effort seeks to foster projects that make the resources of the NIH Clinical Center available to Extramural researchers.

Breastfeeding provides many benefits for both mother and baby. The NICHD and other agencies and organizations encourage mothers to breastfeed their babies to capitalize on the many benefits it provides.

Dr. Valerie Maholmes, Ph.D., has been appointed Chief of the new Pediatric Trauma and Critical Illness Branch, as announced in an email from Dr. Catherine Spong, M.D., Director of the Division of Extramural Research.

Research continues to ensure ART is the best it can be and that those who receive the treatment remain healthy. The NICHD and other NIH Institutes continue to make this research a priority through the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS).

In this research conversation, NICHD’s Dr. James Griffin talks with grantee Dr. Leslie Leve on her study, which found a strong association between a mother’s smoking during pregnancy and the chances that her child would have behavioral problems in school.

Dr. Brett Miller spoke with NICHD grantee Dr. Tom Mitchell, on using computers to recognize spoken words by analyzing the brain activity patterns of listeners.

A new test for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB)in children detects roughly two-thirds of cases identified by the current culture test, but in a fraction of the time, according to the results of a study in South Africa supported by the National Institutes of Health.

The combinations of anti-HIV drugs recommended for pregnant women do not appear in general to increase their children’s risk for language delay, according to a study from a National Institutes of Health research network.

Research is improving our understanding of CDH and the molecular and genetic factors that play a role in the condition. The activities are also opening possibilities for screening, prevention, and treatment of CDH.

This month’s NICHD Research Perspectives features the report America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-being. Each year, 22 federal agencies collaborate to produce the report, a convenient reference for policymakers, the public, and anyone with in an interest in the nation’s children. It compiles key data about child and adolescent well-being in a variety of areas.