NICHD News Releases

February Is National Children’s Dental Health Month
During National Children’s Dental Health Month, the NICHD reminds parents and caregivers that developing healthy habits goes beyond proper brushing and flossing and regular dental care. Balanced nutrition—especially getting enough calcium—can help children achieve a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums.

Scientific Vision: The Next Decade
The NICHD embarked upon a collaborative process in 2011 to create a scientific Vision, identifying the most promising scientific opportunities for the Institute and its partners to pursue over the next decade. The newly published Scientific Vision statement presents the results of that process and outlines scientific goals for the coming decade.

NICHD reorganizes extramural program
​Alan Guttmacher, M.D., Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) announced a number of changes to streamline the institute’s organizational structure and accelerate the exchange of scientific ideas.

NICHD vision statement now available online
A document charting a research course for the many collaborators who share an interest in promoting the science concerning human development through the life span, child health, women's health, and rehabilitation research is now available online.

Research for a Lifetime: Commemorating the NICHD’s 50th Anniversary
On October 17, 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed into law the legislation establishing the NICHD to examine “the complex process of human development from conception to old age.” The Institute marks its golden anniversary with Research for a Lifetime, an all-day scientific colloquium to highlight the Institute’s mission, accomplishments, and future research directions.

NICHD's Ongoing Research on HIV/AIDS
​​The NICHD joined the international community at AIDS 2012, a gathering of more than 20,000 leading HIV/AIDS researchers, public health experts, policy makers, individuals and members of communities affected by HIV/AIDS, and media representatives. A number of NICHD scientists participated in this important event. This spotlight highlights some recent NICHD-funded findings on HIV/AIDS.

July NICHD Director's Podcast Now Online
​The July 2012 NICHD Research Perspectives, the NICHD’s monthly podcast, is now online. This month’s podcast features research sponsored by the NICHD’s Pediatric, Adolescent and Maternal AIDS Branch. This month’s guests, Branch Chief Dr. Lynne Mofenson and Dr. Bill Kapogiannis, reported on findings to reduce the occurrence of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, the safety of one of the new anti HIV drugs, tenofovir, during pregnancy, and the risk of bone loss among young men newly diagnosed with HIV.

NIH Study Finds HIV-Positive Young Men at Risk of Low Bone Mass
Young men being treated for HIV are more likely to experience low bone mass than are other men their age, according to results from a research network supported by the National Institutes of Health. The findings indicate that physicians who care for these patients should monitor them regularly for signs of bone thinning, which could foretell a risk for fractures. The young men in the study did not have HIV at birth and had been diagnosed with HIV an average of two years earlier.

NIH Study Finds Increased Death Risk for Early Term Births
Infants born in the 37th or 38th week of pregnancy have a higher risk of dying before age 1 than do infants born between 39 and 40 weeks, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the March of Dimes.

Young Women with Menopause-like Condition at Risk for Depression
Young women with the menopause-like condition, primary ovarian insufficiency, are much more likely than other women to experience depression at some point during their lives, according to a study from the National Institutes of Health. The finding suggests that all women diagnosed with the condition should be evaluated for depression.

NIH-Funded Study finds Outward Knee Alignment increases Arthritis Risk
People with a particular kind of knee alignment have a greater chance of developing osteoarthritis than do those with other types of leg alignment, reported researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Not Your Grandma's Osteoporosis
​May is National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month. Most people think of osteoporosis as something older people need to worry about. But when is the best time to take actions to prevent osteoporosis?

NIH Convenes Conference on Lactose Intolerance
​The conference, sponsored by the NICHD and the NIH Office of Medical Applications of Research, brings experts together to assess the available scientific evidence on lactose intolerance and health.

The "PROMISE" of Research
​The “PROMISE” of Research New study—Promoting Maternal-Infant Survival Everywhere (PROMISE)—aims not only to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission but also to preserve maternal and infant health.

New Gene Discovered for Recessive Form of Brittle Bone Disease
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.

AIDS Awareness Month and the NICHD
​As the world observes the 21st annual AIDS Awareness Month, the NICHD looks ahead to the prevention and treatment challenges of HIV/AIDS in infants, children, adolescents, and women.

Milk Matters Online Lesson Resources Available for Teachers
New online resources stressing the importance of calcium for bone health are now available for middle and high school teachers. The resources are available through the Milk Matters calcium education campaign, sponsored by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.

Milk Matters Online Lesson Resources Available for Teachers
​New online lesson resources that stress the importance of calcium for bone health are now available for middle and high school teachers on the Milk Matters Web site.

"Prime" Partnership for NICHD Milk Matters Campaign
​New public service announcements, produced in partnership with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), focus on adolescence as prime time for bone growth.

Second Gene Discovered for Recessive Form of Brittle Bone Disease
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions have found a second genetic defect that accounts for previously unexplained forms of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a disorder that weakens bones, sometimes results in frequent fractures and is sometimes fatal.