Children
The project database currently holds 77 relevant grants.
- Birth difficulties - a follow-up study in children
- Studying how the brain responds to injury early in life and identifying any visual, movement or co-ordination problems which may result.
- Blindness and retinal detachment
- Detachment of the retina is a severe blinding disorder with almost 6,000 new cases per year in the UK. This project aims to identify the genes associated with retinal detachment so that strategies for prevention and counselling can be developed.
- Blindness in Children
- Investigating the causes of an inherited form of blindness which may lead to effective new treatments.
- Bone healing measured with sound waves
- Developing an accurate measurement of fracture healing based on the transmission of sound waves (using ultrasound) along the broken bone
- Bone healing using cell therapy
- Investigating a novel technique to help repair problem fractures where bone forming cells are taken from the patients pelvis, grown and injected into the site of fracture.
- Breathing problems — improving assessment and management of breathlessness
- Looking into more accurate assessment of breathlessness to assist patients with breathing problems.
- Bronchiolitis
- Investigating the body’s response to this serious lung infection in babies, which may lead to the development of a vaccine.
- Cartilage repair
- Studying how cartilage cells survive and maintain their surrounding environment, in order to develop mechanisms to encourage recovery following traumatic injury.
- Cerebral palsy and foot deformities
- Investigating foot problems in cerebral palsy that can significantly affect walking and may require surgery, with the aim of improving treatment.
- Cerebral palsy — new ways to get joints moving
- Studying a new way of increasing movement of joints using the combined effects of heat and stretching with a specially designed splint.
- Cerebral palsy — preventing hip dislocation
- Testing the effectiveness of new equipment designed to prevent hip dislocation in children with cerebral palsy.
- Cerebral palsy - a possible new treatment
- Investigating the development of the brain which may lead to new treatments to reduce the number of children suffering from cerebral palsy.
- Childhood brain disease caused by throat infection
- Investigating how antibodies generated to fight throat infection may, in some children, attack their own brain.
- Cleft lip and palate - identifying the genes
- Investigating the genetic causes of cleft lip and palate.
- Coordination disorders in the early years
- Around 5% of children have poor coordination which can affect their educational achievement, emotional, and social behaviour. Early intervention programmes for parents and teachers working with children with coordination disorders will be examined.
- Corneal transplantation preventing transplant rejection
- Studying mechanisms to prevent the immune system from attacking corneal transplants and prevent transplant rejection.
- Crohn’s disease - fibrosis
- Studying mechanisms of scar tissue formation in the intestine to improve understanding of Crohn’s disease, and looking for ways to block this process.
- Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis - inflammatory bowel disease.
- The identification of novel genetic determinants in the high prevalence early-onset inflammatory bowel disease population in Scotland.
- Crohn’s disease vaccine
- Development of a vaccine against a bacterium that can cause chronic inflammation of the intestine and is thought to be a cause of Crohn’s Disease
- Dietary iron absorption
- Investigating the proteins involved in the absorption of dietary iron in health and disease.
- Disabled children - a new seat design
- Development of comfortable yet functional seating for disabled children who suffer from spasms.
- Dyspraxia — clumsiness in children
- Assessing the long-term benefits of treatment for dyspraxia which may have long-term effects on academic achievement, emotional and social behaviour.
- Dyspraxia — clumsiness in teenagers
- Improving assessment of teenagers with dyspraxia who may suffer from educational underachievement with the aim of planning and evaluating new treatments.
- Dystonia - brain reorganisation after surgery
- Ectodermal dysplasias affecting the skin, hair, teeth and nails
- Searching for the gene abnormalities which lead to poor development of these tissues.
- Eczema in children
- Epilepsy
- Using modern genetic techniques to investigate processes in the brain following epileptic seizures.
- Epilepsy in children
- Investigating the causes of childhood absence epilepsy.
- Epilepsy — imaging causes and effects
- Evaluating two new methods to scan the brain of epileptic patients using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
- Epilepsy — imaging of brain activity
- Using brain scanning techniques this study will measure electrical activity in the brains of people with epilepsy to localise the area of the brain affected.
- Epilepsy, Episodic Ataxia and faulty genes
- To study molecular genetic and cellular expression studies of the calcium channel CACNA1A in human epilepsy.
- Fracture healing - resorbable fracture fixation plates
- Studying fracture fixation plates made of biodegradable materials which will ‘vanish’ after the fracture has healed.
- Genetic basis of two childhood brain diseases
- Genetics of oral-facial-digital syndromes and kidney disease
- Investigating the function of the gene responsible for this potentially life-threatening disorder, improving our understanding of the condition.
- Guillain-Barré syndrome
- Investigating the molecular mechanisms causing nerve damage in Guillain-Barré Syndrome (which causes acute neuromuscular paralysis).
- Gut failure in children
- Investigating the causes of microvillus atrophy where there is a failure of absorption of all nutrients and death is inevitable unless intravenous feeding is commenced
- Hurler Syndrome - modelling new therapies
- Examining the benefits of gene therapy in the treatment of this genetic disorder where affected children rarely live beyond 10 years of age.
- Hydrocephalus (water on the brain)
- Developing methods which may reduce the need for surgery in patients with hydrocephalus where there is an abnormal accumulation of fluid on the brain.
- Imaging of repaired limbs, spines and faces
- Developing new computer programs to improve the imaging of bones with the aim of aiding the assessment of the healing process and improving treatment.
- Incontinence
- Studying the mechanisms controlling the urethral muscle and how the urethra prevents the leak of urine from the bladder.
- Infection by invasive candidiasis
- Development of novel diagnostic tests for invasive candidiasis, a life threatening infection caused by a yeast-like fungus called Candida.
- Inflammatory muscle disease in children
- Testing a new tool to score the severity of juvenile dermatomyositis, a form of inflammatory muscle disease in children, which will help children get the most appropriate treatment sooner.
- Kidney disease
- To study the regulation of complement activity on vascular endothelium; implications for kidney disease.
- Language impairment
- Assessing children who have problems with language development which may lead to rehabilitation programmes.
- Language problems
- Investigating whether a computer based program can improve problems with language development in children.
- Learning disability
- Learning disability and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - genetic role
- ADHD is a genetically-influenced condition which is much more common in children with learning disability. The aim of this project is to investigate genetic factors that contribute to ADHD and the findings should enable development of new, treatments.
- Limb lengthening and muscle repair
- Looking at muscle repair following surgical lengthening of bone to correct a discrepancy of limb-length.
- Liver disease
- Development of a completely new model of liver fibrosis using donated human liver tissue which can then be used to test new drug treatments for liver disease.
- Lung infections
- Studying specific poisons or toxins produced by a particular bacterium that commonly causes lung infections with the aim of developing new treatments.
- Lung inflammation
- Further understanding how a chemical called TNF is involved in lung disease and inflammation.
- Meningitis - a possible new treatment
- Understanding more about our natural defence against a meningitis-causing bacterium.
- Meningitis - helping design a vaccine
- Investigating the bacterium, Neisseria meningitidis, that causes meningitis and septicaemia. This knowledge will aid the future design of an effective, safe vaccine for group B meningitis, the most common form of meningitis in developed countries.
- Metabolic diseases
- Further developing tests to evaluate the effectiveness of new drugs used to treat metabolic diseases, where chemicals accumulate within the cells causing widespread problems, including neurodegenerative disease, and which can be life threatening.
- Metabolic diseases - new methods of treatment
- Developing a test to evaluate the effectiveness of new drugs used to treat metabolic diseases (where chemicals accumulate to toxic levels within the body causing widespread problems which can be life threatening).
- Nerve regeneration and preventing muscle wastage
- Testing whether small proteins that promote survival and regeneration of nerve cells can be use to treat damaged nerves and thereby help prevent muscle wastage.
- Nerve repair
- Using carefully selected models of the major types of nerve injury to investigate nerve repair.
- Neurofibromatosis type 1
- Investigating the function of the gene affected in this relatively common genetic disease which causes significant abnormalities including learning difficulties, tumours of the central nervous system and skeletal deformities in children.
- Osteoporosis - studying the combined benefits of exercise and calcium
- Studying the benefits of calcium and exercise on growing bone in children.
- Pain prevention in young infants
- Investigating the increase in nerve density and skin sensitivity which may result from tissue damage and cause long-term pain in infants.
- Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy & cerebellar ataxia - improving mobility
- Investigating whether walking and balance can be improved when patients rehearse their intended steps with eye movements.
- Pneumonia in children
- Investigating whether infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) increases the chances of a child developing pneumonia.
- Premature babies treated with steroids - a follow-up study
- Studying the long-term effects of steroids used to treat chronic lung disease in premature babies.
- Preterm babies treated with steroids - a follow-up study in teenagers
- Investigating the long-term effects of steroid use on lung function, growth and intellectual outcome in preterm babies.
- Robot-therapy for children with movement problems
- Developing computer-assisted robotic exercises and sophisticated technology for measuring movement, to treat children with coordination problems.
- Sickle cell disease
- Sickle cell disease is a serious blood disorder for which there is no effective treatment. This research team is investigating the causes and prevention of sickle cell ‘crises’
- Sickle cell disease - preventing complications
- Looking at the causes and prevention of sickle cell ‘crises’ which can cause excruciating pain, stroke, bone, renal and lung disease.
- Sickle cell disease - studying blood vessels
- Improving our understanding of sickle cell disease by studying the regulation of blood vessels in patients with this condition.
- Skin itching
- Skull growth
- Understanding more about the mechanisms of skull growth with the aim of improving the treatment of genetic conditions where the skull stops growing prematurely.
- Spasticity - a genetic study
- Identification and characterisation of genes causing a particular form of hereditary spastic paraparesis (a genetic condition causing weakness and stiffness of the legs).
- Spasticity — neurodegenerative conditions affecting the spinal cord
- Identification of the genes causing hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs) — a group of neurodegenerative conditions causing progressive weakness and spasticity of the lower limbs.
- Spasticity a reliable method of measurement
- Development of a method to assess spasticity, with the aim of providing a tool to help doctors in the clinic make a more accurate diagnosis
- Speech and Language in Children Born Preterm
- Using new brain scanning techniques to study how the developing brain can compensate for injuries resulting from premature birth which may lead to early treatments to prevent speech and language difficulties in children born preterm.
- Speech Disorders
- Developing special computer programs and investigating the use of the computer as a speech practice tool.
- Spina bifida - parents need up-to-date information
- Following-up children born with spina bifida in the 1990’s to find out how they have fared.
- Spinal cord injury — enzyme treatment
- Studying the benefits of an enzyme treatment which digests scar tissue around the injury sites and may allow nerve fibres in the spinal cord to regrow.
