News & Updates

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.

Alan Guttmacher, M.D., Acting Director of the NICHD, issued the following statement regarding events to commemorate the lifelong accomplishments of Dr. Dorothy Height.

Working with mice, a team of researchers has pinpointed the location of bone generating stem cells in the spine, at the ends of shins, and in other bones. The team also has identified factors that control the stem cells' growth. The research was conducted at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

Contrary to what researchers had previously believed, most young women and girls who experience a menopause-like condition called primary ovarian insufficiency still have immature eggs in their ovaries, according to a study by scientists at the National Institutes of Health.

Findings from an NICHD study indicate that, compared to women at normal weight, women who are obese before pregnancy are much more likely to have babies with congenital heart defects, problems with the heart’s structure that are present at birth.

The more obese a woman is when she becomes pregnant, the greater the likelihood that she will give birth to an infant with a congenital heart defect, according to a study conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and the New York state Department of Health.

Taking vitamin C and E supplements starting in early pregnancy does not reduce the risk for the hypertensive disorders and their complications that occur during pregnancy, according to a study by a National Institutes of Health research network.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)1, more than 1.25 million children in the United States experiences maltreatment between 2005 and 2006—a figure which corresponds to one child in every 58. A large percentage were abused, while the majority were neglected.

The NICHD supports the Brain and Tissue Bank for Developmental Disabilities to help advance research on autism spectrum disorders, Down syndrome, and other intellectual and developmental disabilities.