The NICHD was established by President John F. Kennedy, with the support of congress, in 1962 to study the "complex process of human development from conception to old age."

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.

In pursuit of its broad mission, the NICHD conducts and supports laboratory research, clinical trials, and epidemiological studies that explore health processes; examines the impact of disabilities, diseases, and variations on the lives of individuals; and sponsors training programs for scientists, health care providers, and researchers to ensure that NICHD research can continue.
NICHD research programs incorporate the following concepts:

• Human growth and development is a life-long process that has many phases and functions. Much of the research in this area focuses on cellular, molecular, and developmental biology to build understanding of the mechanisms and interactions that guide a single fertilized egg through its development into a multicellular, highly organized adult organism.
• Developing medical rehabilitation interventions can improve the health and well-being of people with disabilities. Research in medical rehabilitation seeks to develop and improve techniques and technologies related to the quality of life and rehabilitation of individuals with physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities resulting from diseases, disorders, injuries, or variations.

Since then, the NICHD has achieved an impressive array of scientific advances in its pursuit to enhance lives throughout all stages of human development, from preconception through adulthood, improving the health of children, adults, families, communities, and populations. Due to efforts of the NICHD and other institutes, survival rates for respiratory distress syndrome have gone from 5% in the 1960s, to 95% today; transmission of HIV from infected mother to fetus and infant has dropped from 25% to less than 1% and the rate of sudden infant death syndrome has dropped by 50% since the NICHD-led Back to Sleep education campaign to reduce the risk of SIDS began.