News & Updates

It seems it’s never too early to start thinking about getting your child ready for school. From picture books to educational toys and videos, there’s no shortage of items and programs geared toward helping children to prepare to succeed in school.

NICHD Director Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., initiated the NICHD Director’s Lecture Series as a way to showcase cutting-edge science relevant to the Institute’s mission. The forum also enables staff and other attendees to interact with other nationally recognized scientists.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered that a rare cancer of the digestive tract is linked to a shutdown in an enzyme that helps supply oxygen to cells.

Brain scans of dyslexic adolescents who were later able to compensate for their dyslexia showed a distinct pattern of brain activity when compared to scans of adolescents who were unable to compensate, reported researchers funded in part by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Families today look very different than they did a generation or two ago. According to recent data, for example, 40 percent of infants are born to unmarried mothers—more than double the number for 1980.

Young women with the menopause-like condition, primary ovarian insufficiency, are much more likely than other women to experience depression at some point during their lives, according to a study from the National Institutes of Health. The finding suggests that all women diagnosed with the condition should be evaluated for depression.

Very low birthweight Down syndrome infants are at higher risk for disorders of the heart and lungs than are very low birthweight infants who do not have a chromosomal variation, according to a study by a National Institutes of Health research network.

Infant mortality is a difficult problem not only in the United States, but also in many resource-poor countries throughout the world. Although activities in the United States have made progress in reducing many causes of infant death, developing countries continue to see alarming infant mortality rates. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that:

For children being treated for HIV in less developed countries, monitoring to predict the occurrence of serious HIV-related illnesses is most accurate if it includes a measure of HIV levels in the blood, according to a National Institutes of Health study conducted throughout Latin America.

Recently, researchers at the National Institutes of Health reported that variations in a gene for an enzyme involved in cell energy metabolism appear to increase the risk for prostate cancer.

Brain images of youth who have a variation in a gene associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) revealed an altered pattern of in the brain's connective wiring, according to researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Parents and caregivers can take steps to reduce the risks of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) during the colder months, when infants are at higher risk, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health concluded that programs to boost the academic achievement of children from low income neighborhoods would be more successful if they simultaneously provided adult literacy education to parents.

SIDS is the sudden, unexplained death of an infant younger than one year of age. It is the leading cause of death in children between one month and one year of age. In 2006, more than 2,300 infants died of SIDS in the United States.

National Institutes of Health researchers have discovered a key step in how the dengue virus infects a cell. The discovery one day may lead to new drugs to prevent or treat the infection.

The NICHD joins other agencies and organizations in examining existing research, supporting new research, and helping put an end to bullying.

The NICHD has embarked on a process to develop a scientific vision that sets an ambitious agenda to inspire the NICHD, its many partners and the research community to achieve critical scientific goals and meet pressing public health needs.

Recently the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warned against the use of so-called "sleep positioner" products because of the dangers they pose to infants. These warnings serve as timely reminders during this SIDS Awareness Month that although we have learned a great deal about SIDS—the sudden, unexplained death of an infant younger than one year of age—we still have more to learn.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have found that variations in a gene for an enzyme involved in cell energy metabolism appear to increase the risk for prostate cancer.

The National Children's Study has initiated recruitment at 30 study locations around the United States. The Study is the largest long-term study of children's health ever conducted in the United States, and will follow 100,000 children from before birth to age 21 to learn how the environment influences children's health, development, and quality of life. Study researchers seek to enroll women who are pregnant or may become pregnant in the next few years.