Director's Corner

Charting a Roadmap for the Next Five Years

Posted on 02/18/2025

NICHD Strategic Plan 2025. Healthy pregnancies. Healthy children. Healthy and optimal lives. Photos of a young child smiling and writing with a pencil, a parent and older child laughing and playing, one parent kissing another parent who is holding a newborn infant, and four adults walking two by two with one in a wheelchair. Microscopic photo of cortical interneurons individually labeled with a unique hue in transgenic Brainbow mice.Released in January, the NICHD Strategic Plan 2025 lays out updated priorities to guide the institute’s research over the next five years. While our five major research goals are unchanged, we made substantial updates to reflect shifts in public health priorities and the evolution of new technologies.

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Reflecting on a Productive 2024

Posted on 01/06/2025

2024. A patient and healthcare provider have a discussion. A young woman with Down syndrome smiles with her grandmother in an outdoor setting. A military member with a service dog.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.

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Expanding Knowledge of Pediatric Long COVID and MIS-C

Child laying on couch with hand on forehead.Posted on 12/02/2024

Like many infectious diseases, COVID-19 can affect children differently than adults. To optimize treatment of pediatric COVID-19 and its long-term complications, we must first understand the unique needs of children.

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Enhancing Maternal and Women’s Health

Four multigenerational women.Posted on 11/04/2024

Understanding and addressing a wide range of women’s gynecological and reproductive health issues are priorities for NICHD. Through research, the institute seeks to support and optimize the health of women throughout their lives.

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Optimizing Infant Health

Person putting a baby on their back to sleep.Posted on 10/01/2024

Our experiences during infancy and childhood affect our health across the lifespan. Through its infant health research, NICHD continues to promote healthy and optimal lives for all children and adolescents, including the tiniest babies.

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