News & Updates

Two grantees of the NICHD's Reproductive Sciences Branch were among the seven researchers named by President Obama as recipients of the National Medal of Science, an honor bestowed by the United States government on scientists, engineers, and inventors.

At the recent 145th meeting of the NICHD’s advisory council, NICHD Director Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., presented some of the main concepts that have emerged from the Institute’s year-long scientific Vision process. These draft concepts will form the basis for the NICHD’s formal scientific Vision statement, which will be finalized in late 2011 or early 2012.

Forbes D. Porter, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed Clinical Director of the Division of Intramural Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Pregnant women who are assaulted by an intimate partner are at increased risk of giving birth to infants of reduced weight, according to a population-level analysis of domestic violence supported by the National Institutes of Health.

In June, the world marked the 30th anniversary of the first case of what is now known as AIDS. The NICHD Spotlight, 30 Years of Milestones, highlighted some of the key moments in pediatric, adolescent, and maternal AIDS research.

Thirteen scientists have been appointed to a blue ribbon panel that will review medical rehabilitation research at the National Institutes of Health.

Gene therapy plus an injection of copper dramatically improved survival in mice with a condition that mimics the often fatal childhood disorder Menkes disease, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have converted stem cells from the human endometrium into insulin-producing cells and transplanted them into mice to control the animals' diabetes.

Preschoolers with a strong ability to estimate quantities are more likely to score higher on tests of basic number skills than are their peers with less ability to estimate quantities, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Sumner J. Yaffe, M.D., a former center director at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, has passed away.

The National Children's Study is changing its approach to informatics--the science of classifying, cataloging, storing, analyzing, and retrieving information, study officials announced today.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered in mice a molecular trigger that initiates myelination, the process by which brain cell networks are reinforced with an insulating material called myelin that speeds their ability to transmit messages.

Pharmacists play a unique role in providing personalized health care. In many communities, they do much more than just fill prescriptions—they also provide health care and health advice to parents, children, and families on topics ranging from prenatal vitamins to maintaining a healthy weight to infant care. Sometimes, people see and interact with the pharmacist more than they do with any other health care provider.

An NIH scientist whose landmark collaborations led to a major advance in understanding a potentially fatal disorder of pregnancy has passed away.

NIH-funded scientists have developed a strain of mice with a built-in off switch that can selectively shut down the animals' serotonin-producing cells, which make up a brain network controlling breathing, temperature regulation, and mood. The switch controls only the serotonin-producing cells, and does not affect any other cells in the animal's brains or bodies.

Key cells in the brain region known as the hippocampus are formed in the base of the brain late in fetal life and undertake a long journey before reaching their final destination in the center of the brain shortly after birth, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health have developed a new statistical technique to forecast changes in fertility rates. The new method mathematically compensates for uncertainty and is expected to allow governments to plan more reliably for the infrastructure and social services needed to accommodate large-scale population changes.

Although the exact number of women with vulvodynia is unknown, researchers estimate that 18 percent of American women from all racial backgrounds experience symptoms of vulvodynia at some point in their lives. The evidence suggests that most women either do not seek help at all, or go from doctor to doctor seeking diagnosis and treatment without answers.

At fertilization, a massive release of the metal zinc appears to set the fertilized egg cell on the path to dividing and growing into an embryo, according to the results of animal studies supported by the National Institutes of Health.