Preterm infants - preventing brain damage

This research was completed on 31 January 2004

Project Leader	Dr M H F Sullivan Phd
Location	Department of Maternal and Fetal Medicine, Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital Campus and the Department of Paediatrics, ICSM, Hammersmith Campus, London.
Grant awarded	11 March 1999
Start date	6 September 1999
End date	31 January 2004
Grant amount	£170,606.00
Grant code	SP3427

Babies born prematurely are particularly vulnerable to brain damage, and prematurity is a major cause of cerebral palsy and long-term disability in children. As the number of very premature infants who survive increases, so the number of children with disability is also getting larger. It is now clear that infection is a major risk factor for prematurity: and whilst the cause of perinatal brain damage is probably multifactorial, this project will investigate whether such infection is related to this damage. If so, it should then be possible to identify the babies most at risk very soon after delivery and also to develop appropriate treatments for them.