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.
Within NIH, NICHD leads research to improve women’s health “below the belt,” which involves addressing a spectrum of gynecological and reproductive health issues, including endometriosis. The $3 million RADx® Tech ACT ENDO Challenge, launched in August, seeks to develop faster and less-invasive diagnostic procedures for this common and often debilitating disease. Later this month, eight semifinalists will deliver pitch presentations, demonstrate their technologies, and outline plans for further development. Up to four winners will be selected as finalists to receive a cash prize of $100,000 each and advance to the next phase of the challenge. Lowering barriers to endometriosis diagnosis promises to aid development of treatment and prevention strategies.
NICHD also is a leader in pelvic floor disorder research. Symptoms of these disorders can range from bothersome to debilitating, significantly hampering daily life. Last year, researchers reported three-year findings from an ongoing clinical trial comparing three common surgeries to repair pelvic organ prolapse, when the organs sag into and sometimes through the vaginal canal. This work provides patients and their healthcare providers with clinical evidence to decide upon the most appropriate individualized treatment strategy.
These and other advances in women’s and maternal health research are spotlighted in NICHD’s 2024 Selected Research Advances showcase, which I encourage you to visit. We also made strides in research benefiting other NICHD populations of interest, including infants, children, adolescents, and people with disabilities. For example, one study estimated that widespread adoption of standards designed to improve pediatric care in U.S. hospital emergency departments could save more than 2,000 lives each year. Researchers estimate that adopting the standards would range from no cost to $11.84 per child, depending on the state.
Our long-standing support of research on intellectual and developmental disabilities also continued. NICHD and partners launched the NIH-wide Down Syndrome Cohort Development Program, a $20 million study to observe and track health data of people with Down syndrome from birth to adulthood. We also made advances in addressing physical disabilities, including evaluation of a new surgical procedure to help people with below-knee amputations achieve a more natural gait.
NICHD researchers made notable basic science advances, including creation of a genetic atlas of early zebrafish development that promises to help scientists understand the roles of different cell types in health and disease. By enhancing our understanding of living systems, basic research provides us with knowledge that can later be translated into applications that benefit human health. To learn more about basic science at NICHD laboratories, visit the Research Highlights from the Division of Intramural Research showcase, which is updated quarterly and also includes noteworthy findings from clinical and population-based research.
I eagerly anticipate the new scientific insights that 2025 will bring. In the coming weeks, I look forward to providing an update on the next iteration of NICHD’s Strategic Plan, which will lay out our research themes, goals, and objectives for the next five years.
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