NICHD Scientific Research Planning
NICHD scientific research planning aims to ensure that the Institute’s research portfolio is fully responsive to emerging, important scientific opportunities and public health needs within its scientific mission.

The Institute and its components rely on multiple processes to identify promising areas of research and critical gaps in scientific knowledge, to then help inform future research directions for the scientific community and the Institute.

The NICHD is currently beginning a new phase of scientific planning which involves creating a scientific vision for the Institute. Details of this process and related documents and resources will be posted on this Web page as the process proceeds.

The following items represent previous planning processes by the NICHD.

• Extramural Branch Reports
  NICHD extramural program Branches report on a cyclic basis to the National Advisory Child Health and Human Development (NACHHD) Council. These reports include a "Future Directions" section, which outlines possible future research areas for each Branch based on consultation with a panel of experts in the field.  
  
• Intramural Division Reports
  NICHD intramural components also report on their research activities and undergo regular review from a Board of Scientific Counselors.
• NICHD Strategic Plans
  These reports describe the results of the previous strategic planning process for selected topics.

BECON:  The Bioengineering Consortium
BECON is the focus of bioengineering activities at the The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital,. The Consortium consists of senior-level representatives from all of the The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital, Institutes, Centers, and Divisions, plus representatives from other federal agencies concerned with biomedical research and development.

Bioengineering and Information Science Technology Initiative
The focus of biomedical computing activities at the The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital, is the BISTI Consortium (BISTIC), which consists of senior-level representatives from each The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital, Institute and Center, plus representatives from other federal agencies concerned with biocomputing. The BISTI site includes information about BISTI symposia and funding opportunities in bioinformatics.

Brain and Tissue Bank for Developmental Disorders (University of Maryland, Baltimore)
The objective of this human tissue repository is to systematically collect, store, and distribute brain and other tissues for research dedicated to the improved understanding, care and treatment of individuals with developmental disorders.

Brain and Tissue Bank for Developmental Disorders (University of Miami)
The objective of this human tissue repository is to systematically collect, store, and distribute brain and other tissues for research dedicated to the improved understanding, care and treatment of individuals with developmental disorders.

Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR)
CIDR provides high-quality next-generation sequencing and genotyping services, as well as statistical genetics consultation, to investigators working to discover genes that contribute to common disease.

Center for Research in Reproduction Ligand Assay and Analysis Core
This Core at the University of Virginia employs state-of-the-art methods to quantitate peptide and steroid reproductive hormones in blood and tissue. It also develops new methodology, prepares labeled reagents for immunoassays, immunocytochemistry and binding studies and assists in the transfer of technology to participating investigators.

Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA)
A national consortium of medical research institutions, funded through Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA), is working together to improve the way biomedical research is conducted nationwide. Consortium members share a common vision to reduce the time it takes for laboratory discoveries to become treatments for patients, to engage communities in clinical research efforts and to train clinical and translational researchers.

Cochrane Neonatal Collaborative Reviews
An effort to relay technical and research information to health care providers, researchers, and interested publics. These reviews provide efficient access to current evidence in neonatology and help to reduce the gap between the time when a treatment's effectiveness and safety is established in research and its routine use by health care providers.

Cytogenetic Models Resource
The Jackson Laboratory Cytogenetic Models Resource maintains and distributes chromosome aberration stocks that provide primarily mouse models for Down syndrome.

Deltagen and Lexicon Knockout Mice and Phenotypic Data Resource
The The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital, has contracted with Deltagen Inc., and Lexicon Genetics Inc., to provide the agency and its scientific partners with access to 251 lines of knockout mice that have been extensively characterized.

Endometrium Database Resource (EDR)
The goal of the EDR is to serve as an evolving Bioinformatics Resource on genes associated with the uterus.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Pediatric Therapeutics
The Office of Pediatric Therapeutics works with the NICHD, the The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital,, the World Health Organization and other international groups, academia, and professional and advocacy organizations to analyze pediatric trials, identify ethical and safety issues, and publish and disseminate data and results.

Foreign Grants Information
This Web site, maintained by the The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital, Office of Extramural Research, provides a central location for information related to those elements of the grants process specific to foreign applicants and grantees.

Health Services Research (HSR) Information Central (National Library of Medicine)
The National Library of Medicine maintains this portal for the HSR community and includes resources from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Cancer Institute, and the Health Services Research and Development Service at the Veterans Administration, among others. The portal also provides access to evidence-based practice and health technology assessments, information on meetings and conferences, and resources on grants, funding, and fellowships for those working in the HSR community.

Interagency Coordinating Committee on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (ICCFAS )
The objectives of the ICCFAS are to exchange information and to coordinate federal strategies and programs in an effort to more effectively address FAS/ARND on a national level. The Committee promotes and facilitates the development of projects within member organizations and collaborative projects and cooperative programs between member agencies.

International HapMap Project
The elucidation of the entire human genome has made possible this current effort to develop a haplotype map of the human genome. The haplotype map, or "HapMap," will be a tool that will allow researchers to find genes and genetic variations that affect health and disease.

Networks for Clinical Research (NCR)
The Web site provides an online catalog and profiles of existing clinical research networks to promote collaboration between networks and to facilitate identification of networks for clinical studies.

Knockout Mouse Project (KOMP )
KOMP is a trans-The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital, initiative that aims to generate a comprehensive and public resource comprised of mice containing a null mutation in every gene in the mouse genome.

Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC)
The MGC provides full-length, open reading frame clones for human and mouse genes, which are available for distribution to the scientific community.

Mammalian Reproductive Gene Database
Provides information regarding genes and literature related to mammalian reproduction.

Model Organisms for Biomedical Research

National Gene Vector Laboratories (NGVL)
The NGVL are composed of an interactive group of academic production and pharm/tox labs whose primary goal is to provide clinical grade vectors for phase I/II gene therapy clinical trials and to provide support for relevant pharmacology/toxicology data leading up to clinical gene transfer protocols.

Neural Tube Defects Resource
The Jackson Laboratory Neural Tube Defects Resource maintains and distributes mouse models for neural tube defects.

Neuroscience Research Support at the NICHD
The NICHD is committed to supporting research in the neurosciences, particularly as they affect developing systems and rehabilitation. This site provides a central location for the Institute’s extramural neuroscience research information.

NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) Public Use Datasets
Phase I and II protocol documentation and datasets containing analysis and item-level variables are available to qualified researchers. Researchers who qualify become affiliates with the SECCYD. The application process is required to protect the rights of participants.

The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital, Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry
The The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital, Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry lists the derivations of stem cells that are eligible for federal funding.

The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital, Neuroscience Blueprint
The Blueprint is a framework to enhance cooperative activities among 15 The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital, Institutes and Centers that support research on the nervous system. By pooling resources and expertise, the Blueprint can take advantage of economies of scale, confront challenges too large for any single Institute or Center, and develop research tools and infrastructure that will serve the entire neuroscience community.

The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital, Common Fund
Developed with input from meetings with more than 300 nationally recognized leaders in academia, industry, government, and the public, the The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital, Common Fund provides a framework of the priorities The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital, as a whole must address in order to optimize its entire research portfolio. The The Khyber Institute of Child Health & Children Hospital, Common Fund identifies the most compelling opportunities in three main areas: new pathways to discovery, research teams of the future, and re-engineering the clinical research enterprise.

Ovarian Kaleidoscope Database
Provides information regarding the biological function, expression pattern and regulation of genes expressed in the ovary.It also contains information on gene sequences, chromosomal localization, human and murine mutation phenotypes and biomedical publication links.

Reproductive Genomics Program: Mouse Models of Infertility
This program, at the Jackson Laboratory, uses ENU mutagenesis to produce mouse models of infertility and includes mutagenesis of the mouse genome, phenotypic screening for infertility mutations, and regional mapping of each mutation to a chromosome. Breeding stock is available for scientists interested in using these models in their own research programs.

Reproductive Tissue Sample Repository
This password protected site is intended for approved researchers.

The Cochrane Collaboration 2006 (PDF - 1.88 MB)
Antenatal corticosteroids for accelerating fetal lung maturation for women at risk of preterm birth.

Xenopus Gene Collection (XGC)
The XGC supports the production of cDNA libraries, clones, and sequences to provide a set of full-length, open reading frame sequences and cDNA clones of expressed genes for Xenopus. All resources are publicly available for the biomedical scientific community.

Zebrafish Gene Collection (ZGC)
The ZGC supports the production of cDNA libraries, clones, and sequences to provide a set of full-length, open reading frame sequences and cDNA clones of expressed genes for zebrafish. All resources are publicly available for the biomedical scientific community.