News

NICHD issues News Releases and Media Advisories to the news media. Spotlight and Research Feature articles explain NICHD research findings and public health issues to the general public. An Item of Interest is a short announcement of relevant information, such as a notable staff change.

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Item of Interest: NICHD Selects Six Infrastructure Centers to Promote Rehabilitation Research

A toddler in a high chair, playing with toys.

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development recently selected six centers for its Medical Rehabilitation Research Resource Network.

Item of Interest: Duane Alexander, Former NICHD Director, Dies

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.

Item of Interest: Stanley Cohen, Nobel Winner and Longtime NICHD Grantee, Dies

NICHD funded Cohen’s award-winning work on growth factors for most of his career.

Spotlight: A Decade of Human-Animal Interaction (HAI) Research

NICHD marks a 10-year partnership with WALTHAM® PetCare Science Institute, a division of Mars, to support research exploring the impact of interactions between animals and human companions.

Item of Interest: Four NICHD Grantees Honored with PECASE Award

Four NICHD grantees will be honored July 25 in Washington, DC, with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. More than 300 researchers across the country are award recipients, the White House announced July 2.

Spotlight: How artificial intelligence and other new technologies are advancing healthcare

A doctor dressed in scrubs is examining an x-ray against a light box while holding a digital tablet.

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

Item of Interest: Interested in Medical Rehabilitation? NIH Wants to Hear from You

Young girl with cerebral palsy using a walker to move independently.

NIH invites comments on its Plan of Rehabilitation Research to help update the plan.

Science Update: NIH-funded researchers develop implants that help heal spinal cord injuries in rats

A 3D printed implant serving as scaffolding to repair spinal cord injury in rats. The roughly circular implant has an H shaped core surrounded by dots—conduits through which nerve fibers can grow. Credit: Jacob Koffler and Wei Zhu, University of California, San Diego.

Researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health have partially restored limb function to spinal-cord-injured rats. They used a rapid 3D printing technology to create scaffolds that precisely fit the injury site. Each of these implants contain small conduits through which regenerating nerve fibers can reconnect. The researchers have also generated prototypes of these implants for humans.

Media Advisory: NICHD chronicles its major research advances of 2018

Infocard has the text "2018 Research Advances #NICHD2018" in a green box surrounded by various images

As 2018 winds down, a new slideshow highlights a selection of initiatives, therapies, and scientific advances supported by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Spotlight: Selected NICHD Research Advances of 2018

In 2018, researchers funded by NICHD made significant progress in advancing the health and well-being of infants, children, teenagers, and adults across the United States and around the world.

Release: NIH to fund national data collection on new mothers with disabilities

Collaboration with CDC aimed at evaluating pregnancy initiatives and outcomes

Release: NIH, DoD to Develop Limb Loss and Preservation Registry

National repository aims to improve rehabilitation and quality of life for people who have lost a limb.

Podcast: Boosting Mobility for People with Disabilities

Dr. Alison Cernich, Director, NICHD’s National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research

A computerized skateboard, a self-motorized toy car, and a robotic prosthetic arm are just a few of the research projects supported by NICHD’s National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research. Listen to the latest podcast.

Science Update: Brain stimulation treatment may help children with cerebral palsy recover limb function, NICHD funded study suggests

Boy fitted with brain stimulation headgear used in the study manipulates blocks.

Using a mild electrical current to either boost or inhibit the brain’s own electrical impulses may one day help rehabilitate its function, according to researchers funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Spotlight: Selected NICHD Research Advances of 2017

Over the past year, NICHD contributed to numerous scientific advances and key initiatives.

NIH-funded rehabilitation technologies receive FDA clearance

Devices bolster function and ability for people with disabilities or injuries.

Monitoring brain electrical activity after head injury may help predict decline in function

A technique that monitors the brain’s electrical activity could one day be used to predict which children who have had a traumatic brain injury (TBI) are likely to suffer progressive brain damage, according to a small study funded in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), a component of the National Institutes of Health.

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