News

Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health have for the first time activated mouse egg cells at the earliest stage of their development and brought them to maturity. In a related experiment, the researchers replicated the finding by also bringing human eggs to maturity in the laboratory.

NIH Director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., announced today that Alan Guttmacher, M.D., will be the new Director of the NICHD. Dr. Guttmacher has been the Acting Director of the NICHD since December 1, 2009.

National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins M.D., Ph.D., announced today the appointment of Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D as director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), one of the 27 institutes and centers that comprise the National Institutes of Health. The appointment follows an extensive national search.

The NICHD has been supporting and conducting research on Fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited form of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), for many decades. This research has given way to multiple clinical trials of drug treatments for Fragile X, a concept that brings hope to millions of families.

A gene implicated in Carney complex, a rare disorder of the adrenal glands, appears to function as a molecular switch to limit cell growth and division, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. Mice lacking functional copies of the gene in the adrenal glands developed an overgrowth of adrenal tissue and were more susceptible to tumors in the gland.

Preterm births and adolescent births declined, eighth graders' math and reading scores increased, and more children had health insurance, according to the federal government's annual statistical report on the well-being of the nation's children and youth. The report also showed several economic changes that coincided with the beginning of the economic downturn: increases in child poverty and food insecurity, as well as a decline in secure parental employment.

It is said that you can’t truly understand someone until you’ve walked a mile in his or her shoes. Since 1997, the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics has been trying to "walk in the shoes" of the nation’s children and youth to understand the features of their health and well-being. By reporting on these features, the Forum provides a snapshot not only of our children’s lives, but also of the country’s future.

The vitamin folate appears to promote healing in damaged rat spinal cord tissue by triggering a change in DNA, according to a laboratory study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

As part of its mission, the NICHD strives to help improve the health of children, adults, families, and communities not only in the United States, but throughout the world as well. Our neighbors in the global community often want the same things for themselves and their families as we do—health, happiness, security, and peace. Working together to achieve these things is mutually beneficial—it’s as good for us as it is for our partners.

An estimated 1.4 million U.S. people sustain a TBI each year; of those, 50,000 die and more than 200,000 are hospitalized*. Those who survive face a broad range of problems. Many of those problems are obvious, such as difficulty walking, talking, or moving; other problems are more subtle, such as changes in personality or mood. These subtle problems can have a major impact on recovery and rehabilitation.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have observed two previously unknown steps in the spread of the malaria parasite through the bloodstream. And in laboratory cultures, the researchers interfered with one of these steps, raising the possibility that new drug treatments could be developed to combat the disease.

Most people know that genes shape certain characteristics, such as eye color and height. Many are also aware that genes are involved in risk for certain diseases, such as high blood pressure and cancer.

Overweight girls who lose weight before they reach adulthood greatly reduced their risk for developing type 2 diabetes, according to researchers from the National Institutes of Health and Harvard University, who analyzed 16 years of data on nearly 110,000 women.

May is National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month. You might think you know all about osteoporosis, a disease characterized by low bone mass, fragile bones, and high risk for bone fracture, but what you don’t know might surprise you.

Millions of Americans with reproductive health disorders stand to benefit from new research funded by the National Institutes of Health. With funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the National Institutes of Health today announced grants totaling nearly $60 million for research into disorders that impair fertility, cut short a woman's reproductive years, and often cause intense pain.

Newborn infants are capable of a simple form of learning while they're asleep, according to a study by researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health. The finding may one day lead to a test that can identify infants at risk for developmental disorders that do not become apparent until later in childhood.

Two findings from an NIH research network study provide new information on how much oxygen very preterm infants should receive starting on the first day of life and the most effective means to deliver it to them.

Teens who were in high-quality child care settings as young children scored slightly higher on measures of academic and cognitive achievement and were slightly less likely to report acting-out behaviors than peers who were in lower-quality child care arrangements during their early years, according to the latest analysis of a long-running study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The Division’s research programs address topics ranging from molecular and cellular biology, genetics, and endocrine and genetic disorders, to physical biology, neurosciences, immunology, reproduction, and behavioral research. Its projects are organized around the theme of the orchestration of life by molecular messengers.

Endometrial stem cells injected into the brains of mice with a laboratory-induced form of Parkinson's disease appeared to take over the functioning of brain cells eradicated by the disease.