Spotlight: Selected NICHD Research Advances of 2022: Text Alternative

Understanding the Effects of the Pandemic

Young children are seated at a table and drawing with a teacher. Everyone is wearing facemasks.

As the pandemic continues into its third year, NICHD continues to support and conduct research to understand the long-term effects of COVID-19 on pregnancy, child development, and mental health. Learn more.

Advancing Health Outcomes During COVID-19

A group of teenagers walk down a school hallway, and one student is being pushed down the hall in his wheelchair. Everyone is wearing facemasks.

NICHD supports COVID-19 research to better address the needs of women, children, and people with disabilities as the pandemic evolves. Findings from this work have helped inform school polices, identified potential new treatments, and addressed long-term health concerns. Learn more.

Encouraging COVID-19 Vaccination

A pregnant woman shows off her post-vaccination band-aid for the camera. A healthcare provider and other patients are visible in the background. Everyone is wearing facemasks.

NICHD has delivered rigorous scientific evidence to enhance understanding of the effects of COVID-19 vaccines. Giving people more information about what to expect after vaccination can aid decision-making and potentially reduce vaccine hesitancy. Learn more.

Promoting Women’s Health

A healthcare provider, who has her back turned to the camera, speaks with a patient who is facing the camera.

Women’s health is a central focus for NICHD. The institute’s research portfolio includes studies to address gynecological issues, pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes, infertility and contraception, and other issues affecting women’s health and wellness. Learn more.

Understanding Pregnancy Loss, Fertility, and Contraception

A couple is seated and holding hands in front of a partially visible healthcare provider who is writing on a clipboard.

NICHD research projects continue to broaden knowledge about the spectrum of issues that affect family planning and help ensure healthy pregnancies. Learn more.

Improving Newborn Outcomes

A smiling father gently cradles a sleeping newborn baby in his hands.

NICHD’s commitment to improving the health of infants includes studies of how pregnancy and post-delivery treatments affect overall health. Learn more.

Optimizing Child and Adolescent Nutrition and Health

A healthcare provider checks a teenager’s blood glucose by using a fingerprick on a monitor. Both are smiling, and a plate of fresh fruit is visible on the table.

Research on all aspects of child and adolescent health and development is central to the NICHD mission. Learn more.

Advancing Research on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

A father and son, who has Down Syndrome and is wearing glasses, are playing together in an outdoor playground. Both are smiling

Improving the health of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) has been central to NICHD’s mission since it was established in 1962. The institute continues to lead research on IDDs six decades later. Learn more.

Protecting Families from Bullying or Violence

A mother and her teenage daughter are having a conversation on the teen’s bed. Both look serious and attentive to each other.

NICHD supports research to identify risk factors for bullying and for violence and to develop new prevention and treatment strategies to protect individuals and families. Learn more.

Addressing Health Disparities

A man in a wheelchair has a conversation with another man who is standing. Both are moving across a room where other adults are seated around a coffee table.

Understanding health disparities is key to addressing and eliminating them. Recent NICHD health disparities research has focused on women’s health and intellectual, developmental, or physical disabilities. Learn more.

Improving Treatments

A healthcare provider, who is crouched on the ground, adjusts a man’s prosthetic leg.

In addition to developing new or improved therapies and treatments for many different health conditions, NICHD supports research to ensure that such interventions are optimally implemented. Learn more.

Boosting Basic Science

DHHC20 is shown in red, white, and blue, and the membranes are a yellow lipid bilayer.

Basic science, an important focus for NICHD researchers, enhances understanding of living systems and life processes. This knowledge can later be translated into applications that benefit human health. Learn more.

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