News & Updates

Teens who pledged to remain a virgin until marriage began sexual activity much later than their peers who did not take such a pledge, according to an analysis of data from a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and several other Federal agencies.

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have identified a gene that may predispose people to developing autism.

Commemorating SIDS Awareness Month, HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher today unveiled a resource kit for reducing the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in African American communities.

Two long-time National Institutes of Health grantees -- Dr. James J. Heckman, of the University of Chicago, and Dr. Daniel L. McFadden, of the University of California at Berkeley were awarded the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel, 2000.

A shorter course of AZT therapy than currently prescribed for HIV-infected pregnant women may allow women in developing countries to afford the treatment that can reduce their babies' chances of contracting AIDS, but at a much lower cost, according to a study in the October 5 New England Journal of Medicine.

A team of researchers funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has found that infants who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) have abnormalities in several parts of the brainstem.

Parents and other caregivers are more likely to place infants to sleep on their backs when advised to do so by their infants' doctors, according to the latest analysis of the National Infant Sleep Position Study (NISP).

In the largest, most comprehensive evidenced-based review ever conducted of research on how children learn reading, a Congressionally mandated independent panel has concluded that the most effective way to teach children to read is through instruction that includes a combination of methods.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) jointly will support an international research network to improve the health of women and children throughout the world.

Scientists at a research network funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) are seeking infertile couples for a study to investigate whether taking a sample of endometrial tissue is useful for diagnosing and treating infertility.

Children of depressed mothers performed more poorly on measures of school readiness, verbal comprehension, and expressive language skills at 36 months of age than children of mothers who never reported depression.

Two studies supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provide compelling evidence that the amount of HIV in a pregnant woman's blood, known as the maternal HIV viral load, is the prime risk factor for transmitting the virus to her baby.

Children attending child care centers that meet professional standards for quality score higher on school readiness and language tests and have fewer behavioral problems than their peers in centers not meeting such standards, according to a study appearing in the July issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

An investigational drug that helps insulin to function more efficiently appears to combat infertility in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common cause of female infertility, according to a research team funded in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

The largest, most comprehensive analysis of its kind has found that pregnant women infected with HIV can reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their infants by about 50 percent if they deliver by elective cesarean section--before they have gone into labor and before their membranes have ruptured, according to a study led by a researcher at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Researchers affiliated with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) study of early child care will report that, in general, day care in the United States is "fair," but not outstanding.

Researchers in a large network funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have determined the most effective of a series of common infertility treatments.

Having high blood pressure for at least four years before getting pregnant increases a woman's chances of developing the dangerous condition known as preeclampsia, according to a study published in the September 3 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

National efforts to reduce the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) by placing healthy infants on their backs or sides to sleep appear to have been extremely successful, according to a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), reported in the July 22 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The largest, most comprehensive analysis of its kind has found pregnant women infected with HIV can reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their infants by about 50 percent if they deliver by elective cesarean section--before they have gone into labor and before their membranes have ruptured, according to a study led by a researcher at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).