News & Updates

This year's World AIDS Day activities focus on efforts to eliminate new HIV/AIDS infections in adolescents and young adults, to treat those who are infected, and to make future generations AIDS free. This focus is part of the "Getting to Zero" theme (Zero New HIV Infections, Zero Discrimination, and Zero AIDS Deaths) that currently guides global efforts.

The October/November NICHD Research Perspectives focuses on the importance of a safe sleep environment to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and other sleep-related causes of infant death.

November marks the 37th annual National Native American Heritage Month to honor AI/AN culture, heritage, and communities. This year’s theme is “Guiding Our Destiny with Heritage and Traditions.”

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.

NICHD and Spelman College have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on projects to promote the health of Spelman students, faculty, and staff. These health projects will include nutrition, fitness education, and physical activity promotion.

SIDS is defined as the sudden, unexplained death of an infant younger than 1 year old that doesn’t have a known cause even after a complete investigation, including an autopsy, a review of the death scene, and complete family and medical histories. It is currently the leading cause of death in babies between 1 month and 1 year of age.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) announced that they are recommending the use of the label "term" in pregnancy be replaced by new gestational age designations.

A new policy has been posted on the NIH Web site that provides information for the extramural community on how NIH is resuming operations after the government shutdown.

In 1994, the NICHD, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and other collaborators launched the Back to Sleep campaign to inform parents and caregivers about ways to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), defined as the sudden, unexplained death of an infant younger than 1 year of age.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have identified a potential new drug that could help in the treatment of a form of Batten disease, a fatal childhood disorder. The researchers tested the drug in mice with the disease and found that it slowed the loss of coordination seen in the disorder, and extended the animals’ life span.

In this Research Conversation, Drs. Marian Willinger and Eve Colson explain the findings reported in the NIH news release, Roughly 14 percent of infants share bed with adult or child. Sharing a bed, with an adult or another child, increases an infant’s risk of death from sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS or other sleep-related causes.

The percentage of nighttime caregivers who reported that an infant usually shares a bed with a parent, another adult, or a child more than doubled between 1993 and 2010, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

Reducing infant mortality has been an important part of the NICHD mission since it was founded. Despite decades of research, however, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) remains the leading cause of death among infants between 1 month and 1 year of age in the United States, causing more than 2,000 infant deaths each year.

In recognition of National Infant Mortality Awareness Month, the federal agencies focused on infant health and safety, ask all organizations who reach families and health care providers through media, print, and education to show infants sleeping alone, on their backs, and in a clutter-free crib, bassinet, or play yard.

The September NICHD Research Perspectives featured a discussion on NIH grants for projects investigating genomic sequencing as a diagnostic tool to screen newborns for health disorders. On September 4, the NICHD and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) awarded $5 million to fund studies on the potential for the new technology. The September podcast is an excerpt from the news conference in which officials at the NICHD and NHGRI described this new project.

The NICHD has played a key role in the newborn screening activities and accomplishments of the last 5 decades and continues to lead and fund research activities related to newborn screening. As we mark the 50th anniversary of the dawn of the newborn screening era, the NICHD highlights some of its newborn screening research and accomplishments.

The NICHD and its collaborators in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities recently released a packet of tailored training materials and activities intended to help spread safe infant sleep messages in Native communities.

What was formerly known as NICHD’s Division of Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention Research (DESPR) has been reorganized and is now known as the Division of Intramural Population Health Research.

Understanding Down syndrome—its mechanisms, its effects on overall health, and ways to minimize its symptoms—has been an important part of the NICHD mission since it was established. The Institute is launching the DS-Connect®: The Down Syndrome Registry in an effort to create a centralized, secure national resource for storing and sharing health information about Down syndrome.

The National Institutes of Health has launched DS-Connect, a Web-based health registry that will serve as a national health resource for people with Down syndrome and their families, researchers, and health care providers.