Monday 22 May 2017 will mark the first ever World Preeclampsia Day.

Follow the #WorldPreeclampsiaDay hashtag on Twitter and share your story!  Support the Thunderclap campaign to tell the world.

At the INFANT Centre, we are working to combat preeclampsia with our IMPROvED project. Almost 1500 mothers in CUMH have volunteered for the study which aims to develop a predictive test for preeclampsia.

Our INFANT Researchers created this video to mark the day:

Pre-eclampsia is most common in the second half of pregnancy and can still strike up to six weeks after delivery. Women can sometimes be symptomless, but many symptoms are also easy to dismiss. Awareness of the signs is vital.

Our director, and consultant obstetrician at CUMH, Prof Louise Kenny notes that “As healthcare professionals, we never, ever mind seeing someone, reviewing a mother who is worried about herself in pregnancy. We would much rather see 100 women and reassure them that they are fine than miss even one who has signs and symptoms of pre-eclampsia and who has dismissed them or ignored them.”

All maternity units are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. There will always be a senior duty midwife available on the phone (whether you are seen publically or privately). If any mother is concerned, call the hospital.

Know the symptoms.

They could save a life (or two).

Partnership Announced Between INFANT & Global Partners to Explore Optimal Nutrition for Premature Infants

PiNPoINT Investigator team – L-R:

Dr Elaine McCarthy, postdoctoral researcher, Dr Brendan Murphy, Consultant Neonatologist, CUMH, Teresa Berkery, Project Manager, Stephen Lane, Software Developer, Aileen Regan, Danone Nutricia, Ana-O’Reilly Marshall, Neonatal Research Dietician, Prof Mairead Kiely, Principal Investigator, Sarah Fenton, Pharmacist, Bairbre Hickie, Fresenius Kabi, Ann-Marie Brennan, Clinical Specialist Neonatal Dietitian, Christian Stafford, Business Development Manager, INFANT, Brian O’Mullane, Creme Global, Conor McGauran, Creme Global, Dr Kevin Walsh, Science Foundation Ireland

(Photo: Paul Sherwood Photography)

On April 5, the INFANT Centre, a leading Science Foundation Ireland research centre at University College Cork, today announced the launch of the Personalised Nutrition for the Preterm Infant (PiNPoINT) Study. The study aims to develop software to aid personalized nutritional management of preterm infants who have a very low birth weight. Science Foundation Ireland will invest more than €1M in the project with further support coming from three leading international partners: Creme Global, Danone Nutricia and Fresenius Kabi.

Why is PiNPoINT Needed?

1 in 16 babies is born prematurely in Ireland, before 37 weeks of pregnancy. The World Health Organisation (WHO) acknowledges that premature birth can cause a host of problems for the baby and it is the second leading cause of death for children under 5 worldwide. When born prematurely, a baby’s major organs will not have had enough time to fully develop in utero, and the infant will be born at risk of health problems, especially if they are born prior to 32 weeks.

The earlier a baby is born, the lower her birthweight may be and this too has knock-on effects for health at birth and beyond. Babies under 5.5lbs (2.5kg) are classed as Low Birth Weight babies, but the babies who will be followed in the PiNPoINT study are those who weighed less than 3lbs (1.5kg) at birth. These very low-birthweight babies are more likely to have health problems as a newborn and will need special care in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

What Will PiNPoINT Do?

PiNPoINT will address the lack of knowledge around the nutritional requirements of these small babies to help optimize growth and development, improve functional outcomes and promote long-term health and quality of life. The PiNPoINT project will implement a novel nutritional management strategy for these infants using real-time nutritional data collection and monitoring. The plan will be based on the results of the BabyGrow longitudinal preterm nutritional study that quantified nutrition and growth in a small cohort of preterm infants.

Speaking in Dublin, Prof Mairead Kiely, Principal Investigator on the study, said the ultimate goal of this unique project is to “assist in the nutritional support of these most vulnerable members of society to promote optimal physical and neurological growth and development. We are also conducting research to better define nutritional requirements in these infants throughout the first weeks, and months, of life.”

Director of Programmes for Science Foundation Ireland, Dr Darrin Morrissey, said: “I am delighted to welcome the collaboration between INFANT and its industry partners, as part of the PiNPoINT study. The use of new software technology to enable us to better understand the nutritional needs of preterm babies has enormous potential to positively impact on their lifelong health and well-being. Science Foundation Ireland is delighted to support collaborations such as these, to bring innovation into our health care services.”

Recruitment to the study will begin later in 2017.

This study is funded by Ireland’s European Structural and Investment Funds Programme the European Regional Development Fund, and Science Foundation Ireland. 

Note: The Pinpoint study of preterm infant nutrition includes three industry partners, who are contributing a minor proportion of the funding. Preterm infants are preferentially fed on human milk, either their mother’s expressed milk, or donor milk if Mum’s milk is not available. Each sample of human milk varies from the other. It is important for us, in the Pinpoint study, to know the composition of the milk each baby is receiving. Danone, as a partner in Pinpoint, have donated a human milk analyser to the study. This analyser will provide us with the information we need to tailor each babys nutrition according to their needs, and is the first of its kind to be used in an Irish research study. Our aim is to help the neonatal care teams to provide the best possible nutritional support for vulnerable babies.

William Hutch is a medical researcher from University College Cork. He has a PhD in neuroscience and is involved in the neonatal brain research group at INFANT.

In his TEDxUCC talk, he reveals for the first time the undiscovered phenomenon of how we can now look at and listen to the brain of a preterm infant using EEG. This may allow doctors to detect the early warning signs of any neurological change in such preterm infants. In a sense, the preterm infant is actually telling us when they are not feeling well.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Cork’s Lifelong Learning Festival promotes and celebrates learning of all kinds, whatever your age, interest or ability.

Dr Simon Woodworth, will give a talk on his work as Lead Investigator in the LEANBH project at Blackrock Castle Observatory, in Blackrock, Cork at 20:00 on Friday 7 April.

Learning to Evaluate Blood Pressure at Home (LEANBH) is a study which investigates hypertensive disorders in pregnancy. Find out why this is important and see a demonstration of the equipment used.

More information here: http://www.bco.ie/ 

Groundbreaking Collaboration

We are delighted to announce our collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation to explore the effects of sleep on baby brain development.

INFANT, a world leading Science Foundation Ireland funded research Centre at University College Cork (UCC) and Cork University Maternity Hospital, announced today that it will collaborate with Johnson & Johnson Consumer Services EAME Ltd. for the Baby Enrichment Research Programme, ENRICH, to explore the effects of sleep on baby brain development. The collaboration was facilitated by Johnson & Johnson Innovation. The announcement comes at the same time as World Sleep Day, an awareness programme engaging 72 countries around the world in a global call to action about the importance of sleep.

Understanding Sleep

The ENRICH research programme aims to understand the effects of sleep behaviours on the cognitive development of infants. Results from the study aim to help to promote early and lifelong health as sleep is essential for brain development in infants. This research programme will examine detailed information about sleep in infants using both parental observations and objective brain activity measurement (EEG).

Launching the ENRICH project, Prof Geraldine Boylan, co-director of the INFANT Centre said, “this unique collaboration is a fantastic opportunity. It will combine Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc.’s research on the importance of multi-sensorial experiences for babies with INFANT’s international expertise in infant brain monitoring and assessment. We know that sleep and sensory stimulation are extremely important for babies and the ENRICH project will provide us with information about the effects of lifestyle, sensory stimulation and sleep behaviours on the cognitive development of infants.”

Crucial Evidence

This international study will invite 200 parents to enroll their babies to the study over twelve months at both Cork University Maternity Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital, London. The babies will be monitored until they are 18 months old, providing crucial evidence on the importance of sleep and facilitate the rapid and direct translation of the ENRICH research findings to the market.

Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland, said, “I welcome the collaboration between Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. and INFANT. ENRICH will provide researchers with evidence to promote simple interventions in infancy that enhance brain development. This research has the potential to have enormous impact in terms of lifelong health and well-being. We are very happy to see Ireland’s health researchers continuing to work with industry and foster research and innovation in our health care services.”

Evidence from the ENRICH study may inform intervention programmes and new product development to support the optimal environment and habits for early days and lifelong health.

“If You Go into the Wards Today …”

This week, children from three local schools in Cork brought their teddy bears to CUH’s new outpatient paediatric department. These junior doctors were giving their cuddly patients a check up at our Teddy Bear Hospital.

Organised by Cork University Hospital, the INFANT Centre and UCC’s Medical Society, the Teddy Bear Hospital introduces children to medical instruments and procedures in a fun learning environment. After an initial consultation with their brave teddy, the children decided on a treatment with the help of specialist CUH nurses, INFANT researchers and student doctors from UCC’s Medical Society.

Introducing Children to Doctors

Prof. Jonathan Hourihane, Professor of Paediatrics at CUH and Principal Investigator at INFANT, explained why the Teddy Bear Hospital was such a success:

“The aim of the Teddy Bear Hospital is to introduce children to doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals in the hospital, through the eyes of their teddy. This is done in a friendly and entertaining way so they will have a better idea of what to expect if they ever need to visit to the hospital, or will have helped them adjust to experiences they may have already had here or elsewhere. It’s also important for them to see that we do research in the hospital to develop new treatments and improve care for patients. We are delighted to be opening the new outpatient department and research centre space in this way and we thank the schools for engaging so positively.”

Doctors Fur a Day

Our thanks to the junior classes of Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh (Caliíní), Sunday’s Well NS and St. John The Apostle Boys NS. Everyone was a bit tired going back to school and work, but it was all for a worthy paws.

Three new studies from the Pregnancy Loss Research Group have been published surrounding the impact of stillbirth and intrapartum death.

Led by our PI, Dr Keelin O’Donoghue, the research explores the impact on parents and on healthcare professionals with recommendations for how to improve care.

New research from the Pregnancy Loss Research Group at INFANT explored the impact of how bad news was communicated to parents following a diagnosis of stillbirth.

Interviews were conducted with 17 parents who were bereaved following stillbirth.

The researchers found that the way the diagnosis was communicated was profoundly important.

The parents recalled in detail where and how the bad news was broken to them, and language the clinician used. If the clinicians used diversionary techniques, it created a sense of mistrust especially if the parents felt that information was being withheld.

The study highlights the importance of language, sensitivity, and the environment in which the news is delivered. The researchers recommend that clinicians engage in patient-focused communication training in order to help them communicate in an open, sensitive and honest way.

Paper Available here: Communication Skills in Obstetrics: What Can We Learn from Bereaved Parents?

In further research by the Pregnancy Loss Ressearch Group, researchers found that the event of a stillbirth brought about challenging spiritual and theological questions.

All of the parents interviewed felt their faith was challenged and most parents reported that their spiritual needs were not adequately addressed while they were in hospital.

The study reveals the depth of spiritual struggle that parents bereaved following stillbirth experience.

The researchers’ recommendation is that spiritual care is provided as part of comprehensive perinatal bereavement care in the obstetric setting.

Paper available here: The Spiritual and Theological Challenges of Stillbirth for Bereaved Parents

In addition, a separate study found that intrapartum death had a profound impact on healthcare providers, including shock, guilt, sadness, anger and self-blame. The study found that a more proactive approach towards providing emotional support for HCPs was needed. The researchers recommend mandatory education sessions on self-care and training in adverse outcome management.

Paper available here: Healthcare professionals’ response to intrapartum death: a cross-sectional study

Information

The Conference will take place over two days, Saturday and Sunday, with a mixture of plenary and concurrent sessions from invited speakers and selected presentations from conference abstracts.

Pre-conference workshops will be held on Friday 22nd of September followed by the ISA Official Opening Ceremony & Welcome Reception.

Key Dates

Abstract Submission Deadline: January 19th – April 21st 2017

Early Bird Registration Deadline: 2nd June 2017

Confirmed Speakers

Professor Fran Boyle
The University of Queensland, Australia
Dr Molly Byrne
National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
Professor Alan Cameron
University of Glasgow, Scotland
Dr Myra Cullinane
Dublin District Coroner, Ireland
Professor Jane Dahlstrom
The Australian National University
Dr Mary Devins
Our lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin, Ireland
Professor Soo Downe
University of Central Lancashire, UK
Professor Elizabeth Draper
University of Leicester, United Kingdom
Professor Richard Greene
National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre,
Ireland
Dr Alexander Heazell
The University of Manchester, UK
Professor Mary Higgins
University College Dublin, Ireland
Professor Stephen Kennedy
University of Oxford, UK
Professor Louise Kenny
INFANT, Ireland
Professor Joan Lalor
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Professor Stephen Liben
McGill University, Canada
Professor Fergal Malone
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Dr Tracy Mills
The University of Manchester, UK
Mr Bryan Nolan
Irish Hospice Foundation
Professor Michael Turner
University College Dublin, Ireland
Dr Jane Warland
University of South Australia
Ms Aleena Wojcieszek
The University of Queensland, Australia

Dr Andrey Temko, INFANT researcher, has won a prestigious international competition for his work in predicting seizures in the human brain through long-term EEG recordings.

Highest Accuracy

Together with data scientists from Ornon, France; Curitiba, Brazil; and Minneapolis, US, Dr Temko developed an artificial intelligence solution that showed the highest accuracy among nearly 500 competing teams from around the world.

Seizure Forcasting

The aim of the Kaggle event was to develop seizure forecasting systems with the potential to help patients with epilepsy lead more normal lives. Epilepsy afflicts nearly 1% of the world’s population, and is characterised by the occurrence of spontaneous seizures.

Huge Achievement

INFANT Centre co-director  Prof Geraldine Boylan congratulated Andriy on this prestigious win, noting “this is a huge achievement at an international level. We are really delighted to have Dr Temko’s unique expertise here in the INFANT centre. He has used his skills in machine learning to develop a novel computer programme that can automatically detect seizures in newborn babies who are  in intensive care.

Machine Learning

This computer programme was translated into a cot-side medical device and a  clinical trial of this device has just been completed in eight centres across Europe (www.anserstudy.com).  Machine learning is contributing hugely to modern healthcare, particularly in supporting clinical decision making. At the INFANT centre, a large area of our research is focused on using machine learning to develop devices that can provide information on brain heath in order to improve outcomes for babies who may have had a difficult start in life.”

The challenge was organised and sponsored by the National Institute of Health, American Epilepsy Society and Melbourne University.

We are incredibly proud of Andrey’s achievement and look forward to the next steps!