National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
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- Reducing infant deaths
- Improving the health of women, men, and families
- Understanding reproductive health and fertility
- Learning about growth and human development
- Examining, preventing and treating problems of birth defects, mental retardation, and developmental disabilities
- Enhancing well-being of persons through the lifespan with optimal rehabilitation research
Establishment History
At the request of President John F. Kennedy, the U.S. Congress established the NICHD in 1962. President Kennedy's sister, Eunice Shriver, had been an advocate for the mentally retarded and, with help from the family pediatrician Robert E. Cooke, pushed for research that focused on disorders pertaining to human development. In 1961 Dr. Cooke chaired a task-force on child health and growth; the task-force's report was given to congress, which then established the NICHD the following year.
Mission
The mission of the NICHD is to ensure that every person is born healthy and wanted, that women suffer no harmful effects from reproductive processes, and that all children have the chance to achieve their full potential for healthy and productive lives, free from disease or disability, and to ensure the health, productivity, independence, and well-being of all people through optimal rehabilitation.[1]
Operation
The NICHD supports extramural research via grants and contracts to places such as major research universities, but it also supports intramural research done on NIH campuses, in particular the Bethesda, Maryland campus, just outside of Washington, D.C..
Components
- National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research
- Division of Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention Research
Division of Intramural Research (DIR)
The DIR is closely concerned with the biological, neurobiological, and medical aspects of normal and abnormal human development. The DIR is divided into basic research, which is more laboratory oriented (many labs use animal models) and clinical research, which involves human patients.
DIR Basic Research
- Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch
- Endocrinology and Reproduction Research Branch
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biophysics
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Neurophysiology
- Laboratory of Cellular and Synaptic Neurophysiology
- Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology
- Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Development
- Laboratory of Integrative and Medical Biophysics
- Laboratory of Mammalian Genes and Development
- Laboratory of Genomic Integrity
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics
- Laboratory of Molecular Growth Regulation
- Laboratory of Physical and Structural Biology
- Section on DNA Replication, Repair, and Mutagenesis
- Section on Nervous System Development and Plasticity
- Test Lab 94
DIR Clinical Research
- Bone and Extracellular Matrix Branch
- Developmental Endocrinology Branch
- Heritable Disorders Branch
- Laboratory of Clinical Genomics
- Laboratory of Comparative Ethology
- Laboratory of Developmental and Molecular Immunity
- Reproductive Biology Medicine and Biology Branch
- Perinatal Research Branch
The Institute's Notable Accomplishments
- Since its founding, the NICHD has funded research that has contributed to a decline in infant mortality of over 70%.
- The rate of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome has fallen 50% since an NICHD "Back to Sleep" initiative began.
- Transmission of HIV from an infected mother to the fetus has dropped from 25% to 2% as a result of an NICHD collaboration.
- NICHD scientists developed a vaccine for Haemophilus Influenzae B (Hib), which was a leading cause of mental retardation, reducing its incidence by 99% and nearly eliminating the disease.
- Many other advancements in fertility, contraception, mental retardation, and developmental biology[1]
References
See Also
United States Department of Health and Human Services
External Links
- NICHD Website
- National Institutes of Health Website
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Website
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
