Good Clinical Practice Course

Please note, there must be a minimum of 5 participants for the course to be run.

Full GCP Course – INFANT 2020: (4-hour course)

Please note, there must be a minimum of 5 participants for the course to be run.

Taken from UCC’s Independent Thinking Magazine.

It is well recognised that hospitals that have a research centre such as INFANT, which is integrated into a clinical care setting, have better outcomes for patients and higher overall standards of care, she points out.

INFANT is also Ireland’s leading partner in conect4children, a pan-European research network which is carrying out clinical trials to develop better treatments for children.

“Our aim is to ensure that Irish children participate in the best trials available across Europe. About 60% of current drugs used for children were developed for adults. We often use a smaller dose of the drug for children – but children are not small adults; their physiology and how they handle drugs is very different to adults. The gold standard for safe drug use is to test using randomised controlled trials which need to be done for children also,” explains Geraldine.

As well as the development of drugs and devices specifically for children, INFANT is involved in research in a wide range of areas from eczema and allergies to stillbirth and pregnancy loss, and optimal nutrition for premature babies.

The centre was founded with Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) funding which ended in May of this year, so it’s now standing on its own two feet, as such: “It’s a new phase for us, a very exciting phase. We were very grateful to get SFI funding to set the centre up, and over the last six years we have built up an amazing and talented team of people here. INFANT has now moved into the toddler phase and we are growing and evolving and adding new team members all the time,” Geraldine says.

Just as INFANT is growing up, so too are the newborn babies who were the focus of much of the early research. The centre expanded to the third floor – a brand-new extension at CUH, which opened last year and was funded through the university and philanthropy.

It now has its own state-of-the art development assessment unit headed by a senior neuropsychologist, ensuring that all babies are followed up, into and throughout the childhood years.

“We are really delighted with this assessment unit. We regularly have international visitors here at INFANT and they can’t believe the purpose-built set-up we have here for doing assessments. My challenge as director is to sustain this unit and the team, to ensure we can follow up every child who participates in research into their teenage years,” says Geraldine.

The idea, she explains, is to see how the complications these children experienced as newborns or in the womb affects them as they grow, and to ensure better outcomes through assessment and early intervention. It’s very hard to get funding for this kind of research – but Geraldine says she is never going to stop trying.

One research team, for example, is investigating the right balance of nutrition for growing preterm babies. INFANT is also heading a team that is developing a new drug for children at risk of peanut allergy.

Another project is focused on identifying babies who will develop severe eczema, while the neonatal brain team have identified biomarkers in the blood for severe brain injury in babies.

NFANT researchers are also trying to understand the underlying causes of pregnancy loss and stillbirth and are looking at mothers’ experiences of maternal morbidity, to bring these issues to the forefront and begin conversations between patients, healthcare providers and the community.

A panel of parents of sick children who have been through the neonatal unit at CUH, and families who have experienced complications of pregnancy, is being set up to provide input into the design and development of parent information leaflets and future research projects at INFANT.

Geraldine expresses deep gratitude to the staff in the maternity hospital and the paediatric unit, who manage to find the time during their incredibly busy workdays to support and facilitate INFANT research. The ever-growing talented multidisciplinary team includes clinical researchers, scientists, engineers, computer scientists, physicists and nurses, and her own enthusiasm and passion is infectious, no doubt.

“You need the right team and the right people, and we have been very lucky in INFANT with our amazing team of people here, which is our major strength. It’s very rare to get a centre with all this different expertise together in one place,” she says.

“We have a talented and enthusiastic pool of PhD students and post docs – the next generation who, I hope, will continue on the work we started and build on it. We have so much more to do, so many areas we have not even scratched the surface of yet, in terms of the research we need to do.”

The birth of a baby is a wonderful occasion. Too often, babies are born too soon or very sick and mothers can suffer severe complications.

The INFANT Research Centre is committed to understanding how to reduce these risks and give all babies a healthy start to life.

By making a donation today you can shape the future of INFANT.  Enabling us to continue our valuable and ground-breaking research for women and children and funding solutions for those that need them most.

Your donation, whether large or small, will be hugely appreciated and we are very grateful for your support.

DONATE NOW!

Last week, INFANT postdoctoral researcher Dr Elaine McCarthy was presented with her British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) Drummond Early Career Scientist Runner-up Award in London.

Earlier this year, the BNF announced the recipients of the 2019 BNF Drummond Early Career Scientist Award – recognising early career excellence in nutrition science.

Elaine has been recognised for her work in the field of paediatric and neonatal nutrition, with iron nutrition in young children being the focus of much of her research.

The BNF Drummond Early Career Scientist Award is an annual scheme run by the BNF. Applicants are judged on their contributions to nutrition science to date, their potential to become future leaders in the field, and the scientific merit and clarity of communication in their work.

Elaine’s invited review entitled “the neonatal period: a missed opportunity for the prevention of iron deficiency and its associated neurological consequences?” is now published in the Nutrition Bulletin.

Well done Elaine!

INFANT wins 2^nd national award for digital diagnostics research – AI powered decision support tool to identify brain seizures in newborns recognised.

INFANT was named winner of ‘The Best Application of AI in an Academic Research Body.

INFANT PhD student Alison O’ Shea and the INFANT Engineering team were recognised for their use of AI to diagnose brain injury in infants. The team has developed an algorithm that detects seizures in newborns and alerts the healthcare team that the baby may need some additional support.  Currently, seizure detection is only possible through analysing EEG and under normal neonatal intensive care conditions, less than 10% of seizures are detected.

Now in its second year, the AI Awards are run by AI Ireland, a non-profit business with backing from Microsoft Ireland and Alldus International.

Congratulations to the AI Ireland team, sponsors, nominees and awardees on such a successful event.

PRESS RELEASE

Newborns who suffer mild oxygen deprivation impacted in later life

Research raises questions about the current medical approach during birth

Babies who suffer mild oxygen deprivation at birth have impaired cognitive outcomes compared to children with uneventful deliveries, joint Irish and Swedish research reveals today.

Lack of oxygen to the newborn brain affects almost 200 babies in Ireland each year and results in death or disability in over 1 million infants each year globally. The condition, known as Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE), causes brain injury due to lack of oxygen and can leave newborns with permanent neurological damage or cerebral palsy.

Researchers at the Irish Centre for Maternal and Child Health Research (INFANT) at University College Cork (UCC), along with colleagues at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden joined together to examine the outcome in a large number of babies with this condition.

Combining data from infants in Cork and Stockholm, this study found that a significant number of children who suffer mild HIE at birth have impaired cognitive outcomes compared to children with uneventful deliveries. These early delays can herald learning or behavioural difficulties which become more significant over time.

HIE in children is graded as mild, moderate and severe. The only proven treatment for HIE is Therapeutic Hypothermia (known as cooling therapy) if introduced within the first six hours of birth. Cooling reduces the risk of death and disability in infants with moderate to severe HIE. Randomized controlled trials of cooling to date have not included infants with mild HIE due to a perceived good prognosis.

This research today raises the question as to whether these babies should be treated at birth with cooling therapy. Currently, worldwide, this therapy is reserved for babies with more severe degrees of HIE.

This study analysed data from 471 children recruited to research studies in Cork and Stockholm between 2007-2015. The study found that children with mild HIE at birth have significantly lower cognitive composite scores than children with uneventful deliveries when measured with the Bayley Scales of Toddler and Infant Development 3rd edition (BSITD-III) at 2-3 years.

The findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics highlights the need for clinical trials of neuroprotective therapies to include children with mild HIE.

INFANT Principal Investigator, UCC Professor Deirdre Murray is Head of Paediatrics and Child Health at Cork University Hospital and leads research in the area of HIE and perinatal asphyxia.

Speaking about the findings Prof Murray said, “The results from this study are significant. In 471 children recruited across two different countries, we saw the same pattern. At present, doctors who care for these newborns do not know whether to treat them or not. No trials have studied effects in these infants with milder injury. Our study has shown that their development at 2 years is significantly lower than expected. A large, adequately powered trial is urgently needed to answer this question and to guide doctors in their care of infants with mild HIE.”

The study was supported by funding from the Health Research Board, Science Foundation Ireland and the Wellcome Trust.

Read the full publication here.

New research by INFANT researcher, Dr Elaine McCarthy and INFANT PI Prof Mairead Kiely has been published in leading nutrition research journal, Nutrition Bulletin.

Iron deficiency is the most common micronutrient deficiency worldwide. Iron is essential for the development of multiple organ systems, most especially the developing brain.

Iron deficiency, particularly during sensitive periods of brain development, such as in early childhood, is associated with long‐lasting adverse consequences for cognition, motor function and behaviour. Little consideration has been given to iron deficiency in newborn infants and its potential health consequences.

The team highlighted potential strategies for the prevention of neonatal iron deficiency and its long-term health consequences.

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nbu.12407

Earlier this month, our PhD student Alison O ‘Shea attended the Grace Hopper Celebration in Orlando, Florida.

Read all about Alison’s experience below.

–

The Grace Hopper Celebration is a yearly event which invites technologists from all over the world to come together and celebrate women in computing. This year’s celebration was the largest yet, with an attendance of 25,000 people. It was held in Orlando, Florida and I was honoured to be able to attend on a Google Travel Scholarship.

The theme for GHC 2019 was ‘We will Change the World’, this message of hope and empowerment was reflected in the opening keynote address. The keynote highlighted inspiring women from a variety of backgrounds in different stages of their careers. Each speaker told their personal and professional stories in front of a captivated crowd of 25,000 attendees, with a background of inspirational quotes and dazzling lighting.

Aside from the spectacle of GHC, there is a sense of community and positivity that permeates all aspects of this event. Every person you speak to at GHC is friendly, an exemplar in their field and believes in the power of diversity. Attending advanced technical panel discussions with representatives from major companies and noticing that everyone on the panel was a woman with a different background and a different journey is something I haven’t seen before. This kind of representation is really important for young people starting their careers in engineering.

Machine learning and data science were emphasised at this year’s GHC, as Dr Fei-Fei Li was awarded the prestigious Technical Leadership Abie Award for her innovative and impactful career in computer vision. As a machine learning engineer at INFANT, I was extremely interested in the workshop sessions in the Data Science and AI tracks. These hands-on sessions gave attendees the chance to explore both fundamental and cutting-edge concepts in a practical and approachable way. Technologists of all ages from a wide variety of backgrounds tackled challenges in domains like image and natural language processing; by working in small groups at these sessions new relationships were forged and problems were investigated from different viewpoints.

There was also a focus on maintaining design inclusivity in the AI. How can we ensure that diverse perspectives are included in the AI pipeline? This is a question that should be asked in all areas of technology development; innovation should be led by diverse teams with many viewpoints represented. The aim of GHC and its parent organisation, AnitaB.org, is to ensure that we have equal female representation in technology. The vision is clear, 50/50 by the year 2025. In order to achieve this goal everyone in the tech sector needs to work with this mission in mind. The four days I experienced at GHC2019 were uplifting and inspiring, and I know that I will bring the Grace Hopper spirit back into my daily research. The real impact of this conference will be ensuring that diversity and inclusion are intrinsically connected with technical innovation and leadership.

Congratulations to our PhD researcher Anne Helps who won runner up prize for her poster ‘Analysis of Irish Inquiry Reports relating to Pregnancy Loss Services’.

She received the award at the International Stillbirth Alliance’s 11th Annual Conference in Madrid, last week.

ISA’s annual conference is one of the most important events of the year for a global community of scientists, mothers, fathers and health professionals who work continuously to reduce the 5 million deaths that occur annually around the world.

In addition to Anne’s achievement, the Pregnancy Loss Research Group, led by PI Dr Keelin O’ Donoghue contributed to the conference further, delivering seven oral presentations, one plenary, one workshop and twenty-one posters (six of which were highly commended).

Congratulations to all the team!

Babies born by planned caesarean are more likely to be obese in early childhood

The research, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, discovered that planned caesarean birth was a significant predictor of obesity at age two, however this association was not apparent by the time children were four-and-a-half years old.

The international comparative study examined data collected as part of this country’s largest longitudinal study, the University of Auckland’s Growing Up in New Zealand. The study examined data collected for more than 6,000 children born in 2009 and 2010.  Researchers cross referenced delivery data with height and weight measurements for the same children when they were aged two and four-and-a-half years old.

Lead researcher, Dr Gwinyai Masukume says the findings highlight the potential impacts on infant growth of different delivery choices. Gwinyai says “the results show that the type of delivery may have an impact on infant growth rates, at least in the short term and I hope this latest research will feed into discussions between mothers and their medical professionals about delivery options”.

This research was carried out in conjunction with the Centre for Longitudinal Research at the University of Auckland, University College Cork, University of Leicester and the University of Liverpool.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2019-212591