News & Updates

The NICHD supports the Brain and Tissue Bank for Developmental Disabilities to help advance research on autism spectrum disorders, Down syndrome, and other intellectual and developmental disabilities.

A gene that causes a fatal childhood brain disorder can also cause adults to develop peripheral neuropathy, a condition resulting in weakness and decreased sensation in the hands and limbs, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. The study is the first to show that different mutations in the same gene cause the two seemingly unrelated disorders.

NICHD and the NIH Office of Medical Applications of Research are holding a three-day Consensus Development Conference on Vaginal Birth After Cesarean: New Insights.

In 2007, the NICHD, the National Institute on Nursing Research, and other national partner organizations released Continuing Education (CE) Module on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS): A Curriculum for Nurses to help nurses make the most of their important role in health care to reduce the risk for SIDS.

An online version of NIH's continuing education program for nurses about SIDS risk reduction is now available. The Continuing Education Program on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Risk Reduction was developed by NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) in collaboration with national nursing and health organizations.

Most people know that the term “lactose intolerance” describes an inability to digest significant amounts of lactose, a sugar found in milk and other dairy products. Reduced production of lactase, the enzyme required to successfully digest lactose, can lead to unpleasant digestive symptoms, such as abdominal pain or diarrhea. As a result, those who experience symptoms of lactose intolerance may avoid dairy products and eliminate a crucial component of a healthy diet.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have identified DNA variants in mothers and fetuses that appear to increase the risk for preterm labor and delivery. The DNA variants were in genes involved in the regulation of inflammation and of the extracellular matrix, the mesh-like material that holds cells within tissues.

The rate of stillbirths in rural areas of six developing countries fell more than 30 percent following a basic training program in newborn care for birth attendants, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The study tracked more than 120,000 births.

Text4baby is a free service that delivers evidence-based health information about pregnancy and baby’s first year directly to the cell phones or mobile devices of moms-to-be and new moms.

The brains of infants who die of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) produce low levels of serotonin, a brain chemical that conveys messages between cells and plays a vital role in regulating breathing, heart rate, and sleep, reported researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.

On January 15, researchers funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the NICHD launched the Promoting Maternal-Infant Survival Everywhere—or PROMISE—study.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions have discovered the third in a sequence of genes that accounts for previously unexplained forms of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a genetic condition that weakens bones, results in frequent fractures and is sometimes fatal.

The death rates of children with HIV have decreased ninefold since doctors started prescribing cocktails of antiretroviral drugs in the mid-1990s, concludes a large-scale study of the long-term outcomes of children and adolescents with HIV in the United States. In spite of this improvement, however, young people with HIV continue to die at 30 times the rate of youth of similar age who do not have HIV, researchers from the National Institutes of Health and other institutions found.

This December, the NICHD joins the international community in recognizing the 21st annual AIDS Awareness Month. Research by the NICHD, several partner Institutes at NIH, and other organizations has helped change the outlook for those with HIV/AIDS in the United States and abroad. While it is good to reflect on how far we’ve come, the NICHD keeps its focus on the many challenges that remain for the future.

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have identified three principal factors linked to whether caregivers place infants to sleep on their backs. Those three factors are: whether they received a physician's recommendation to place infants only on their backs for sleep, fear that the infant might choke while sleeping on the back, and concerns for an infant's comfort while sleeping on the back.

Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., is the new acting director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), one of the 27 institutes and centers that comprise the National Institutes of Health.

Alan Guttmacher, M.D., will assume the duties of NICHD Acting Director on December 1, 2009. He will take over for Susan B. Shurin, M.D., Deputy Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). NIH Director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., made the announcement at an all-hands meeting and thanked the Institute’s leadership and staff for their continued support during this period of transition.

Women who experience preeclampsia, a serious complication of pregnancy, may have an increased risk for reduced thyroid functioning later in life, report a team of researchers from the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

Studying drugs in pediatric populations is challenging because drugs often affect children differently than they do adults. The scarcity of pediatric studies limits the ability of doctors and scientists to predict drug dosing, safety and efficacy in children. To address this gap, the National Institutes of Health announced today 18 grants to help determine outcome measures and increase the likelihood of success of future trials of treatments for children.

Researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health have discovered how to transform human embryonic stem cells into germ cells, the embryonic cells that ultimately give rise to sperm and eggs. The advance will allow researchers to observe human germ cells--previously inaccessible--in laboratory dishes.