Knowledge Generation

Jules Puschett of the TAMUS Health Science Center Research Foundation in the U.S. will study initial evidence that elevated levels of the steroid hormone marinobufagenin (MBG) in urine is a very early indicator of preeclampsia in pregnant women. If true, this common and dangerous condition could be diagnosed early with a simple urine dipstick test, and potentially prevented or treated with a molecule called resibufogenin, which counteracts MBG.

Iain Buxton of the University of Nevada School of Medicine will test the theory that the uterine muscle is regulated by a unique potassium channel that allows it to remain relaxed while a growing fetus continues to exert increasing pressure. Studying the dysfunction of this channel could lead to a therapeutic target to treat preterm delivery.

Laura Ment of Yale University School of Medicine in the U.S. will use magnetic resonance imaging to identify functional connectivity defects underlying language development in the brains of preterm infants, and find the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms involved. Preterm births are common worldwide, and lead to long-term disabilities, particularly in language development. By identifying the underlying cerebral connectivity defects and the molecular factors involved, they hope to use them as diagnostics and as aids for monitoring the effect of treatments.

Alexander Drobyshevsky of Northshore University HealthSystem in the U.S. will test whether olfactory learning in newborns can predict cognitive learning and behavior later in childhood. Current tests of learning and memory can only be performed in infants from 4 months old. However, if defects are identified earlier, treatment may be more effective. Olfaction is one of the earliest developed senses and plays an important role in the first days of life.

Mark Blumberg from the University of Iowa in the U.S. will develop a method to record and analyze twitching during infant sleep as a non-invasive measure of early brain development. Muscle twitching during REM sleep is known to reflect nervous system function. They hypothesize that it also shapes the developing brain, and could be used to diagnose future neurodevelopmental disorders.

William Fifer of Columbia University in the U.S. is developing a non-invasive method to measure heart rate and heart rate variability in the fetus during pregnancy as a window into brain function to help warn of emerging brain abnormalities. They aim to produce charts of brain development beginning during pregnancy and continuing into early childhood that can be used in limited-resource settings for monitoring child health.

Robert Habib of the American University of Beirut in Lebanon will determine whether measuring the patterns of heart rate and breathing rate over time in infants reflects the maturity of the autonomous nervous system and thereby the extent of brain development. The autonomous nervous system controls complex physiological rhythms such as the variability of heart rate over time. These rhythms can be measured non-invasively and will be compared between ten full-term and ten preterm infants measured at birth and every six weeks until 56 weeks, and under different stimulating conditions.

Andrew Alexander of the University of Wisconsin in the U.S. will analyze the relationship between the numbers and types of microbes found in the gut (microbiome) with brain and cognitive development in infants. They hypothesize that cognitive performance such as motor control and visual processing may be modulated by changes in the microbiome, which in turn may predict functional and structural changes in the brain.

Mads Melbye of Statens Serum Institut in Denmark will analyze the metabolic changes that occur in women over the full course of pregnancy to help identify signatures that could diagnose disease or predict gestational age. They will use liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry to measure the plasma levels of a broad range of metabolites in 30 pregnant women every two weeks. They will also collect samples for future analyses to profile the types and levels of other molecules and microbes at different stages of pregnancy.

Laura Goetzl of Temple University in the U.S. will analyze whether the presence of specific microRNAs in maternal blood during early pregnancy can act as biomarkers of fetal neurodevelopment. Although the causes of neurological disorders such as autism are mostly unknown, they likely involve early defects in neurodevelopment. However, there is no simple, low-cost method for monitoring fetal neurodevelopment.