News

NIH’s BRAIN Initiative is marking a milestone—10 years of advancing neuroscience and neurotechnology research by funding innovative projects. Dr. Bianchi shares her perspective on the impact BRAIN has made on NICHD’s mission.

As we ring in 2024, we’d like to take a brief look back on our accomplishments during 2023. These activities illustrate the institute’s continued commitment to research and training in its mission areas.

Researchers developed a new method of evaluating blood from pregnant people to identify anomalies in the genes of fetuses. The new approach is more sensitive than current tests, which screen only for chromosome-level variants, such as an extra chromosome, and a small number of fetal genetic variants. It is also less invasive than current methods, which often involve inserting a needle into the uterus to retrieve fetal cells for analysis.

Cellular metabolism helps govern the speed of embryonic development, according to an NIH funded study. Insights from the work help explain why different animal species develop at distinct rates. The findings also suggest the potential to manipulate developmental rates at the cellular level.

Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2022.

Scientists funded in part by NICHD have generated a mouse embryo model, or embryoid, that develops beyond neurulation—formation of the neural tube, which gives rise to the central nervous system—and closely mirrors natural mouse embryos 8.5 days after fertilization. These embryoids offer a promising model system for research into factors affecting mammalian embryonic development and disease.

Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2021.

It just got easier to participate in the PregSource®: Crowdsourcing to Understand Pregnancy research project. The free app allows participants to track their weight, sleep, mood, and other features of their pregnancy in just a few taps.

Four NICHD grantees will be honored July 25 in Washington, DC, with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. More than 300 researchers across the country are award recipients, the White House announced July 2.

NIH invites comments on its Plan of Rehabilitation Research to help update the plan.

A child born with a structural birth defect has a higher risk of developing childhood cancer. Researchers aren’t sure why such a link exists, but thanks to the NIH Common Fund’s Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program, commonly called Kids First, scientists now have resources and clues to decode this connection.

The anti-inflammatory properties of testosterone appear to protect male mouse embryos from certain types of DNA damage and inflammation that are fatal to female mouse embryos, according to a recent NICHD-supported study.

New trans-NIH INCLUDE Project will focus on improving the health and well-being of people with Down syndrome, while also studying risk and resilience factors for common diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.

A molecule containing genetic instructions passed on from the mother to the egg must be present for the fertilized egg to survive and develop into a normal embryo, according to results of an NICHD-funded zebrafish study.

Over the past year, NICHD contributed to numerous scientific advances and key initiatives.

The National Institutes of Health has announced $46 million in research awards for the Human Placenta Project, an initiative to revolutionize understanding of the placenta. The awards will fund technology development and testing to assess placental function throughout pregnancy, with the ultimate goal of improving pregnancy outcomes and lifelong health.

Lack of vitamin E may contribute to cognitive disorders by robbing brain cells of a substance important for their structure, according to a study of zebrafish funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The National Institutes of Health has dedicated $41.5 million for an initiative to understand and monitor the development of the human placenta during pregnancy. The funding will support the development of new technologies to assess the health of the placenta as it grows and matures, with the ultimate goal of improving the health of mothers and children.

Researchers working with mice have uncovered a potential clue to polydactyly—a birth defect involving extra fingers on the hand or extra toes on the feet. The researchers have found that a mouse version of polydactyly results from a malfunction of the cellular machinery that processes one of the cell’s internal transportation vehicles.

This month the NICHD and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) reissued two funding announcements, inviting grant applications for the development of methods to assess placental development and function. The Institutes intend to commit an estimated total of $2 million to small businesses in 2015 to support this research.