The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is one of the National Institutes of Health in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It supports and conducts research aimed at improving the health of children, adults, families, and communities, including: Reducing infant deathsPromoting healthy pregnancy and childbirthInvestigating growth and human developmentExamining problems of birth defects and intellectual and developmental disabilitiesUnderstanding reproductive healthEnhancing function across the lifespan through rehabilitation researchHistoryThe impetus for NICHD came from the Task Force on the Health and Well-Being of Children, convened in 1961 and led by Dr. Robert E. Cooke, a senior medical advisor to President John F. Kennedy. Eunice Kennedy Shriver also served on the task force, which reported that more research was needed on the physical, emotional, and intellectual growth of children.The U.S. Congress established NICHD in 1962 as the first NIH institute to focus on the entire life process rather than on a specific disease or body system. NICHD became a funding source for research on birth defects and intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs), created a new pediatrics specialty, and established IDDs as a field of research. The institute also focused on the idea that adult health has its origins in early development and that behavior and social science were important aspects of human development.
