News & Updates

A new guide developed by NICHD and its partners promises to standardize the exchange of clinical data on maternal and infant health. The guide is an important step toward establishing a common framework to help clinicians and scientists better understand the root causes and high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality.

NIH has announced the next round of winners of its Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge—a $3 million prize competition to encourage community-based and advocacy organizations in the United States to develop the infrastructure and capabilities necessary to conduct maternal health research.

The Division of Intramural Research provides fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems through basic, clinical, and population-based research.

Premenopausal females who were vaccinated for COVID-19 were no more likely to report irregular menstrual cycles, heavier bleeds or menstrual pain than a similar group of unvaccinated women, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. However, consistent with several previous studies, participants reported a small increase in cycle length of roughly one day following injection.

A new smartphone app may improve early recognition of physical child abuse. By applying an evidence-based strategy developed with NICHD support, the app can help healthcare providers and social workers evaluate bruising on children younger than 4 years of age and identify cases that may need further investigation for child abuse.

Researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health have identified a second brain receptor abnormality in tissue from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) cases. Like the abnormality the group identified previously, the receptor binds to serotonin, a chemical that conveys messages between neurons. Although serotonin is involved in diverse functions such as mood, sleep, digestion, and wound healing, the abnormality the researchers identified is found in the medulla, or brain stem, a region involved in waking up, arousal, and breathing. The study authors believe the abnormalities underlie a vulnerability in the infant brain and may be responsible for an inability to wake up and take a breath under low oxygen conditions, such as when an infant’s mouth and nose are entrapped by bedding materials while sleeping face down.

For nearly four decades, NICHD’s Neonatal Research Network (NRN) has generated scientific evidence to improve the health of critically ill newborns. Recent findings from the NRN and collaborators mark an important step toward developing an evidence-based standard of care for newborns who were exposed to opioids during pregnancy.

A self-report tool developed with NICHD funding gathers feedback from lower-limb prosthesis wearers to better assess mobility challenges and inform treatment. Its use in clinical settings worldwide is changing the rehabilitation landscape and spurring the creation of similar tools for other audiences.

Among certain new fathers, the brain structure known as the hippocampus appears to grow larger from their partner’s pregnancy through to their child’s second year, suggests a study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. Men who began the study with the largest hippocampal volume and had the greatest increases in hippocampal growth reported the greatest increase in feelings of attachment and bonding and lower stress levels regarding their new child.

The health of pregnant women and new mothers in the nation’s prisons should be prioritized to avoid future public health crises from COVID-19, according to an analysis by NICHD-funded investigators. Recommended policy changes include early release, when possible, because pregnant women are at high risk from COVID-19, and prisons are not well-equipped to provide the necessary medical care. Moreover, prisons should promote COVID-19 vaccination and develop targeted messages for this population to counteract vaccine misinformation.

A gel made from the seeds of a South American palm tree entraps SARS-CoV-2 and the protein the virus uses to enter cells, preventing the virus from infecting cells in laboratory cultures, a National Institutes of Health study has found. The findings raise the possibility of future studies to determine if the gel could be incorporated into masks and filters to reduce airborne spread of SARS-CoV-2.

Findings may aid design of targeted drug delivery into the brain and central nervous system.

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have discovered a gene that could serve as a target for a new, non-hormonal contraceptive. The gene, arrestin domain containing 5 (ARRDC5) is present in several mammalian species and controls the last step in sperm maturation. Deactivating the gene results in lower sperm count and sperm with impaired movement that are incapable of fertilizing an egg—without any apparent ill effects elsewhere in the body.

Small businesses play a critical role in driving scientific progress by helping to move innovations out of labs and into the public marketplace. NICHD grants to small businesses have supported development of products ranging from the first FDA-approved endometriosis treatment to at-home rehabilitation devices.

Researchers have found the “Eat, Sleep, Console” (ESC) care approach to be more effective than using the Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Scoring Tool (FNAST) to assess and manage opioid-exposed newborns, according to a national clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C)—a rare condition linked with the virus that causes COVID-19—have biochemical indicators of cell injury and cell death that are distinct from other children with COVID-19, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Urea, present in breast milk but not digested by the infant, appears to foster the growth of beneficial bacteria in the infant gut, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Urea is a nitrogen-containing waste product of protein digestion. In return for the breast milk-supplied urea, the bacteria provide the infant with essential nutrients. The results have important implications for the development of infant formula.

A research team including NICHD scientists has developed a potential gene therapy for hereditary spastic paraplegia 50, a rare childhood-onset neurodegenerative disorder that leads to developmental delays, cognitive impairment, and eventual paralysis.

Infants born in 2020 through mid-2021 to women with COVID-19 weighed less at birth, but grew at a faster rate than a comparable group born to women who did not have COVID-19, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Previous studies have found that preterm infants and other infants who are small or underweight at birth and who undergo catch-up growth in the first year are at higher risk for later life obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, compared to infants born at normal weight. The authors called for additional studies of infants whose mothers had COVID-19 during pregnancy to learn if they have increased health risks later in life.