News & Updates

New research in mice illuminates how infant cries activate maternal brain cells to increase release of oxytocin, a hormone that promotes mother-baby bonding. The findings provide a biological explanation for how sensory cues from an infant can help foster maternal behavior.

NIH will award up to $2 million in cash prizes as part of its Fetal Monitoring Challenge to accelerate development of diagnostic and monitoring technologies that improve fetal health outcomes in low-resource settings. U.S. scientists, engineers, and clinicians can submit innovative approaches and compete for prizes and resources to support technology development and clinical impact, with a focus on point-of-care and home-based diagnostic and monitoring technologies that may reduce fetal health risk and loss during and after birth.

The Division of Intramural Research provides fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems through basic, clinical, and population-based research.

A new imaging technique that measures the ability of the placenta to supply blood to the fetus may predict the chances of impaired fetal growth as early as the 14th week of pregnancy. The new method seems to allow earlier diagnosis than the standard ultrasound technique, which can detect reductions in placental blood flow at 20 to 24 weeks. Earlier detection of fetal growth restriction and risk of small for gestational age fetuses may lead to strategies for treating these conditions.

Catherine Gordon, M.D., M.S., has been appointed clinical director at NICHD. In her new role, she will lead the institute’s intramural clinical research program to improve understanding of the biological, medical, reproductive, and behavioral aspects of typical and atypical human development.

The effects of climate change on health are wide-ranging, from causing injuries and other medical concerns to disrupting vital supply chains. NICHD is committed to supporting scientific research to reduce climate-related health threats among its populations of interest—children, people of reproductive age, and people with intellectual and physical disabilities.

NICHD announced a new cycle of funding for research collaborations in its Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research. The network, which is re-competed every seven years, includes U.S.-based research centers and counterparts in low- and lower middle-income countries. The Global Network has been improving maternal and child health outcomes worldwide and building health research capacity in resource-poor settings since 2001.

Extremely preterm infants fed fortified human milk grew longer and more rapidly and had larger head circumferences than infants fed unfortified human milk. The findings provide support for future studies on the potential benefits of human milk fortification in preventing malnutrition among infants born at 28 weeks or younger.

Children with creatine transporter deficiency, a hereditary developmental disorder, have higher levels of three proteins that are also found in people with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a small study by researchers at NIH and other institutions. The higher the level of proteins, the lower the children scored on a test of coping behaviors and skills. These findings may help inform diagnostic approaches for the transporter deficiency disorder.

Individuals with COVID-19 may experience a slight increase in menstrual cycle length, comparable to the menstrual cycle increase seen among those who received a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study authors stressed that the increase was small and temporary.

NIH has awarded $24 million in first-year funding to establish Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence. The centers will develop and evaluate innovative approaches to reduce pregnancy-related complications and deaths and promote maternal health equity.

The gynecologic condition endometriosis has several differences in gene expression in the uterine lining, according to a comprehensive analysis of nearly 1,000 tissue samples by researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. The differences stem from variations in DNA methylation—the binding of compounds known as methyl groups to DNA.

Infants born to mothers with sleep-disordered breathing—snoring, apnea, and other breathing difficulties during sleep—are more likely to develop complications such as jaundice, low blood sugar, seizures, or death during the newborn period, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The authors called for studies to determine if treating mid-pregnancy, sleep-disordered breathing would improve infant outcomes.

A microscopy image created by NIH researchers is part of the “Life Magnified” stamp panel issued by the United States Postal Service.

The experimental drug TEMPOL prevents viral replication by targeting the SARS-CoV-2 helicase, in addition to the virus’ replicase, according to a new NICHD study.

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a compound found in green tea, appears to inhibit the biochemical processes that promote the growth and development of fibroid tumors cells, suggests a study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. In laboratory tests of human fibroid cells, EGCG reduced the amount of a compound that promotes cell division and the quantity of proteins responsible for the tumors’ fibrous contents.

Strengthening our understanding of human milk biology and lactation is essential to support breastfeeding and to ensure the health of infants who do not have access to a lactating parent’s milk. NICHD supports a range of efforts to explore human milk as an active biological system and to promote the inclusion of pregnant and lactating people in clinical research.

Children with concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury, were no more likely to experience a drop in IQ scores after their injury than were children who received injuries to the muscles or bones, according to a study funded in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The findings suggest that concussion is unlikely to affect children’s intelligence in the long term, providing reassurance to caregivers of pediatric concussion patients.

A device known as a pessary, thought promising for reducing preterm birth risk due to a short cervix, appears no more effective than usual medical care, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. A pessary is a rounded silicone device that fits around a cervix that has shortened, to keep it from opening and leading to miscarriage or preterm birth. The device is typically removed before the 37th week of pregnancy.

Offspring of female nonhuman primates given a cannabis product during pregnancy had changes in their DNA expression like those seen in human children with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to a small study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings suggest that children whose mothers consume edibles or other products containing Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive substance found in cannabis, could experience permanent developmental changes.