News

NIH has announced finalists in its competition to accelerate the development of diagnostic and monitoring technologies to improve fetal health outcomes.

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.

NICHD-funded small business programs have led to innovations for patients, healthcare providers, researchers, and more. Learn about these success stories.

Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2021.

It just got easier to participate in the PregSource®: Crowdsourcing to Understand Pregnancy research project. The free app allows participants to track their weight, sleep, mood, and other features of their pregnancy in just a few taps.

Genetic testing of the siblings of newborns found to have mutations in any one of 11 genes most commonly associated with childhood-onset cancers could reduce deaths from these rare cancers by about 50%, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Receiving detailed genomic information on their newborn’s potential risks for childhood and adult diseases does not appear to cause distress or anxiety among parents, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings could help to allay concerns that routinely sequencing newborn genomes to obtain information about their long-term health prospects may be too stressful for families.

A data resource established with NICHD funding is helping advance research to understand and improve health outcomes for babies with rare genetic diseases identified by newborn screening.

A program providing new parents with one to three home visits from a nurse soon after the birth of a child was associated with 39% fewer child protective service investigations for maltreatment through age five, compared to parents who received usual newborn services, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Families receiving the visits also had 33% fewer emergency department visits.

2020 was a year filled with many challenges. NICHD remained focused on our core mission, advancing key research in women’s health, reproductive science, rare childhood diseases and many more. Watch the video below and review our research highlights of 2020.

Our National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research has advanced the field with significant achievements over the past 30 years that have improved the health, independence and quality of life of people with disabilities.

Read about the career and achievements of NICHD Director Dr. Diana Bianchi.

Duane Alexander, M.D., a former director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), died on February 16, 2020, from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 79 years old.

Read about NICHD’s notable research findings and activities from 2019.

The Trans-NIH Fragile X Coordinating Committee, led by NICHD, recently published the final NIH Strategic Research Plan on FMR1-Associated Conditions.

Scientists and engineers are pioneering new tools and methods to advance healthcare in revolutionary ways. Learn about emerging technologies funded by NICHD.

NICHD was established more than 50 years ago to help understand maternal health and improve pregnancy outcomes. These selected advances highlight NICHD’s contributions to advancing the health and well-being of pregnant women, mothers, and families everywhere.

Genomic sequencing identified a higher risk of childhood genetic disorders in 9 percent of newborns who had passed standard screening for these diseases, according to researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings, from the BabySeq Project, are part of a larger effort to examine whether newborn genomic sequencing is suitable for routine health care.