Annotation: The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) -- renamed by Congress in 2008 in honor of the Institute's founder -- supports and conducts research on topics related to the health of children, adults, families, and populations. 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; 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. Areas of emphasis include: events that happen prior to and throughout pregnancy and childhood, including infertility, pre-term birth, birth defects, developmental disabilities, and human learning and behavior; human growth and development across the lifespan, including nutrition, developmental biology, and congenital diseases; reproductive health and education about reproductive practices, including disorders affecting fertility and infertility, contraception, and sexually transmitted diseases/HIV/AIDS; and medical rehabilitation interventions for those affected by disabilities, including technology and assistive-device development, intervention evaluation, and health promotion and prevention of disabilities. The Center for Research for Mothers and Children, the Center for Population Research, the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, the Division of Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention Research, and the Division of Intramural Research comprise the NICHD. The Institute offers a wide range of materials for various audiences, from researchers to parents; many publications are available in Spanish.
Keywords: Adolescent health, Child health, Congenital abnormalities, Infant health, Infant mortality, Maternal health, Medical research, Mental retardation, National Institutes of Health, Nutrition, Population dynamics, Publications, Reproductive health, Spanish language materials, Training
