News & Updates

NICHD announced winners of the first phase of its Community Champions for Disability Health Challenge, a prize competition that encourages community-based organizations to develop and implement strategies to reduce health disparities experienced by people with disabilities.

Each year, NICHD reflects on selected highlights from the past 12 months that demonstrate how public investment in research drives scientific progress and benefits human health. In 2024, NICHD research expanded knowledge of and enhanced care in women’s health, fetal and pediatric health, disabilities, rehabilitation, and more.

Read about select research advances supported by NICHD in 2024, including work on women’s health, child and adolescent health, medical rehabilitation, health disparities, and more.

NIH funded several studies to investigate how ableism—discrimination against people with disabilities—may influence health care of people with disabilities. Researchers will also investigate how to counter ableism’s negative effects.

The NICHD-funded Limb Loss and Preservation Registry is the first database of its kind to standardize, collect, measure, and report outcomes of clinical data for those providing support to the more than 5.6 million people living with limb loss or limb difference in the United States. Now under new stewardship, the registry is looking toward a new phase of growth.

NIH launched a new federal challenge to encourage community-based organizations to develop and implement strategies to reduce health disparities experienced by people with disabilities.

Summer’s long days and warm weather allow for more time spent outdoors, benefiting physical and mental health. But heat also can have harmful health effects, and outdoor recreation carries the risk of injuries. NICHD research seeks to understand the impacts of climate change, prevent drownings, and help ensure safe participation in summer sports.

A new surgical procedure that connects opposing muscles in below-knee amputations allows greater control of a robotic prosthesis. The procedure restores connection of opposing muscles, lost by the amputation procedure.

NIH’s BRAIN Initiative is marking a milestone—10 years of advancing neuroscience and neurotechnology research by funding innovative projects. Dr. Bianchi shares her perspective on the impact BRAIN has made on NICHD’s mission.

For military members and veterans who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), adding a service dog to their usual care could reduce the severity of PTSD symptoms, feelings of anxiety, and lower depression while enhancing their quality of life and psychosocial functioning, a new study suggests. The trial is the largest nationwide study comparing service dog partnerships to usual care alone.

A step monitoring program for stroke survivors is more effective at spurring long-term physical activity than the traditional therapy of high-intensity walking. The step program appears to reduce the chances that stroke survivors will become sedentary after their therapy is complete, which increases the risk for future strokes.

As we ring in 2024, we’d like to take a brief look back on our accomplishments during 2023. These activities illustrate the institute’s continued commitment to research and training in its mission areas.

Ableism—discrimination and social prejudice against those who are disabled—is a major contributor to the health disparities experienced by people with disabilities. Within NIH, NICHD has been at the forefront of efforts to address ableism in medicine and scientific research.

Researchers have developed a smart phone app that can track and analyze human locomotion—the ability to move from one place to another—and other types of movements. They suggest that using the app costs only 1% of conventional motion analysis techniques and works 25 times faster.

NIH announced the launch of the design phase of a public-private partnership addressing the lack of medical devices designed and approved for children in the United States. In this initial phase, NIH and partners will develop a detailed plan to build and launch a partnership that will bring together the resources of U.S. government agencies and private sector organizations, including industry and non-profits.

A self-report tool developed with NICHD funding gathers feedback from lower-limb prosthesis wearers to better assess mobility challenges and inform treatment. Its use in clinical settings worldwide is changing the rehabilitation landscape and spurring the creation of similar tools for other audiences.

Small businesses play a critical role in driving scientific progress by helping to move innovations out of labs and into the public marketplace. NICHD grants to small businesses have supported development of products ranging from the first FDA-approved endometriosis treatment to at-home rehabilitation devices.

Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2022.

The nine winning teams and five honorable mentions designed technology solutions to unmet health care needs.

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