News & Updates

Using a mild electrical current to either boost or inhibit the brain’s own electrical impulses may one day help rehabilitate its function, according to researchers funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

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

Devices bolster function and ability for people with disabilities or injuries.

NICHD had a very productive year in 2016. Staff responded quickly to Zika virus and led the effort to develop the NIH Research Plan on Rehabilitation. The following snapshots are examples of the many advances made possible by NICHD this year.

NICHD Director Dr. Diana Bianchi shares some thoughts about joining NICHD.

NICHD will host a workshop on September 22-23, 2016 to identify the best approaches for treating and caring for children exposed to Zika virus in the womb. Participants from the United States, Brazil and Puerto Rico, who are experts in obstetrics, maternal and pediatric infectious diseases, child development, rehabilitation and vaccine research, will deliver lectures and lead panel discussions.​

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

As part of the National Robotics Initiative (NRI), the National Institutes of Health announced that it will fund the development of three innovative co-robots—robots that work cooperatively with people.

Recent advances in prosthetic materials, technology, and design have improved choices for injured veterans and many others who have had a limb amputated as a result of a congenital condition, injury, or disease.

Rehabilitation medicine includes efforts to improve function and minimize impairment due to illnesses or injuries. Learn more about NICHD’s rehabilitation research.

NICHD supports a variety of research projects and networks that are useful to neuroscientists. Find a detailed list here.

NICHD Director Alan E. Guttmacher announced that, after an extensive national search, Alison Cernich, Ph.D., has been selected as Director of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research.

More than 50 million Americans, about 1 in 5 people, are living with a disability. People with disabilities tend to be less physically active than people without disabilities and have higher rates of corresponding health problems such as obesity, heart disease, hypertension and stroke.

TBIs and concussions get a lot of attention in the news. In football players at all levels, repeated concussions have been linked to long-term health problems. Veterans have come back from wars with brain injuries caused by explosions. TBIs also happen in daily life. Children fall on the playground, and elderly people have balance problems that lead to more falls. As common as TBIs are, though, there is still much to learn about how to treat these injuries and how to deal with related problems over the long term.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can happen to anyone, at any age. Approximately 1.7 million people experience a TBI in the United States each year; about 53,000 die from TBI-related causes.

At the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience , held in San Diego, California, from November 9–13, more than 30,000 neuroscientists from around the world will share their latest research results and learn about new advances and opportunities in the field.

In the May NICHD Research Perspectives, NICHD researchers and grantees discussed how to reduce the risk for stroke, current stroke treatments, and research on how best to rehabilitate stroke patients.

A compact, self-contained sensor recorded and transmitted brain activity data wirelessly for more than a year in early stage animal tests, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

On December, 13, 2011, the NICHD collaborated with the Foundation for the NIH to host a scientific symposium to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the NCMRR and to provide a forum for discussions of the Center’s history and accomplishments.

On December 5, 2012, the NICHD released the Scientific Vision: The Next Decade, the culmination of a collaborative process that began in 2011 to identify the most promising scientific opportunities for the Institute and the research community to pursue over the next decade. The Vision statement was made available during the NICHD’s 50th anniversary colloquium.