Our research partners, Incereb Ltd, manufacturer of the neon neonatal EEG electrode array, have been aquired by Lifelines Neurodiagnostic Systems, Inc., provider of neurodiagnostic equipment and services.

Simon Griffin, CEO of Lifelines, noted, “We have been working with Incereb for several years in the US market, and their neon product is a perfect fit with our technology and growth plans. We are very excited not only to work with Jim Roche and Incereb on new product development but also with the INFANT Centre at University College Cork and the fantastic research being performed there under the stewardship of Professor Geraldine Boylan.”

Jim Roche, CEO of Incereb, noted “We have worked with Professor Geraldine Boylan since the formation of Incereb, and as an industry partner in INFANT. With LIfelines as our partners, and with their technology fitting seamlessly with Incerebs technology, we are now able to offer a complete EEG monitoring solution for the ICU”.

Incereb will remain operating in Dublin as a subsidiary of the Lifelines group of companies. Plans are to increase R&D spending on a new product pipeline and grow the business by developing new markets and product lines.

“This is a perfect fit for Incereb in terms of our product offering and Lifelines’ sales and distribution network,” says Incereb CEO, Jim Roche, of the acquisition. Incereb has been working with Lifelines since 2015 to distribute Incereb in the US, and more recently worldwide.

“Declan O’Mahoney, Incereb director, has worked tirelessly with the management team consisting of Simon Forsyth, Paul Phillips, and me to get Incereb to this next stage of its evolution,” says Roche. “We are delighted with this acquisition and look forward to growing our business and product range together to bring neonatal and intensive care neuroprotective monitoring to the next level.”

Our PhD researcher, Rachel Williamson, won a Young Investigator Award from the Preeclampsia Foundation at the ISSHP European Conference in Amsterdam.

Eleni Tsiagas of the Preeclampsia Foundation and Rachel Williamson, winner of the Young Investigator Award, ISSHP 2018

Rachel’s presentation at the conference is entitled Investigating the Therapeutic Effects of L-Ergothionine As A Treatment for Pre-eclampsia 

Abstract:

Pre-eclampsia is proposed to result from placental ischemia, explosing the placenta to elevated levels of oxidative stress. L-Ergothionine is a natural water-soluble compound derived from histidine and is a physiological antioxidant due to its preferential concentration in high oxidative stress organs. L- Ergothionine has been shown to possess antioxidant, cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory effects, establishing its potential as a treatment for preeclampsia.

Objectives: To investigate the therapeutic effects of L- Ergothionine as a treatment for preeclampsia using the in-vivo reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) rat model.

Methods: L- Ergothionine (25mg/kg/day) was administered on gestational day 11 (GD11). RUPP was induced by placing silver clips on the abdominal aorta and the ovarian arteries on GD14. Mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) and vascular function were measured in all four groups. Pup and placental weights were also measured. Data is presented using the mean ± SD.

Results: L- Ergothionine reduced MABP in the group compaed to RUPP controls (134 mmHg  143 mmHg). There was a significant reduction in pup weight in RUPP control group compared to sham controls (1.802± 0.07 v 2.245 ± 0.06, P>0.0001). L- Ergothionine resuced fetal growth restriction in the RUPP group compared with the RUPP control group (2.048 ± 0.09 v 1.802 ± 0.07, P=0.05). Mesenteric arteries from the RUPP control group displayed impaired vasorelaxation, however pre-treatment with L- Ergothionine ameliorated this endothelial dysfunction.

Conclusion: Pre-treatment with L- Ergothionine in the RUPP model mediated some of the pathophysiological characteristics of pre-eclampsia, therefore, highlighting its potential as a treatment for pre-eclampsia.

As published in the Irish Examiner: 

Prof Geraldine Boylan, INFANT co-founder and director, and Professor of Neurophysiology at UCC, says it is vital to continue research into maternal and child health.

INFANT is Ireland’s only dedicated research centre spanning maternal and child health and has been recognised internationally as a world-leading organisation that is responsible for a number of research breakthroughs and life-saving science for mothers and babies.

We have made ground-breaking discoveries in neonatal seizure detection, pre-eclampsia, neonatal brain injury, maternal nutrition, and childhood allergy. INFANT has been at the heart of perinatal research and innovation for more than five years.

Funding from Science Foundation Ireland in 2013 was catalytic to the success of the INFANT Centre, and once  it was established, it was quickly recognised as a global force for development in perinatal healthcare and research.

Competitive research grants, collaboration requests and philanthropic funding from national and international sources supplemented the initial €6 million in start-up funding to grow to its €30 million portfolio today.

Prof Geraldine Boylan, INFANT Director 

Over the last five years, the INFANT Centre has been a high performing SFI research centre and it will continue working in this important area. INFANT is maturing and has a new ambitious programme that will build on the investment and success to date. This will require even more diversity of funding than before but the centre is confident of realising the initial vision of building an Institute of Maternal and Child Health of scale, impact and international.

For example, a number of new large-scale research programmes have been announced this Summer. INFANT is a lead partner in the Connect4Children network in Ireland, a European consortium developing paediatric clinical trials around the world which has one of the largest funding budgets (€140 million) awarded through the EU Innovative Medicines Initiative 2.

There is excellent paediatric research ongoing all over Ireland and the paediatric clinical trial infrastructure being built across Ireland will enable INFANT and its partners to access future funding to develop and test medicines specifically for children and infants.

Up to now, children and infants generally receive ‘smaller doses’ or a dilution of adult medicine rather than specifically designed treatments. One of INFANT’s key goals is to support the use of innovative trial designs and new quantitative methods to foster the development of paediatric medicines and to support research in rare paediatric diseases and high medical need areas.

INFANT is the only national research centre of scale working across the continuum of pregnant women, babies and young children.

INFANT as a clinical and translational centre must combine basic and applied research on real unmet clinical needs with a drive to bring innovations and solutions to these clinical problems to the market.

We do this by working with a wide range of stakeholders and funders — clinicians, scientists, engineers, industry, government, funding agencies, donors and patients.

We will continue to collaborate with these partners — local, national and international.

UCC is committed to ensuring that INFANT continues to grow, flourish and deliver on the tremendous impact it can bring to science and society. Ireland and Cork in particular has a unique competitive advantage for research and innovation in perinatal health.

The INFANT Centre continues to be committed to scientific excellence and impactful research. We will continue to work directly with many funders, collaborators and philanthropists and their foundations on this lifesaving and life-changing work in the area of neonatal and maternal care. We look forward to the continued collaboration with families who are the cornerstone of this effort.

As director, I am very proud to lead this important research centre. We are indebted to the wonderful families who take part in our research and I am very proud of the community of researchers and staff in INFANT who are so committed to making things better for mothers and babies around the world.

Following an SFI Research Centre programme call for funding, the new proposal of the INFANT Centre at UCC has not been funded at this time but instead has been recommended to proceed to a national open call in 2020. The Centre opened in 2013 with initial funding from Science Foundation Ireland, which will end in May 2019. INFANT will continue its research work funded by a diverse range of national and international funding agencies, industry partners and philanthropic donors.

INFANT’s mission is to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies by focusing on clinical and health research and innovation in pregnancy, birth and early childhood. The Centre has grown rapidly from its initial award of €6M to over €30M in five years comprising donations, competitive funding awards, and global partnerships with industry and academic researchers which  has enabled the development of INFANT to the point where it now has over 100 staff, a dedicated paediatric clinical research unit, an internationally recognised biobank, a world-leading data hub and other clinical research infrastructure in obstetrics and neonatology.

The support from SFI for the Centre has, to date, been a significant catalyst for major growth and development. It has allowed INFANT to develop breakthroughs in seizure detection and in areas such as pre-eclampsia diagnosis, maternal and new-born nutrition and allergy. The Centre will continue to develop these areas and support maternal and child health research and innovation in its next phase for the benefit of mums, babies and children in Ireland and worldwide.

Rhodri Cusack is the Thomas Mitchell Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in Trinity College Dublin, and a world-renowned expert in his field. Prof Geraldine Boylan, Director of the INFANT Centre noted that “The appointment of Prof Cusack as an INFANT PI is very exciting, it expands the impact INFANT will have, and will enable us to gain even more momentum as a world-leading research centre, improving health outcomes for babies around the world”.

The Vice President for Research and Innovation at UCC, Professor Anita Maguire welcomed the addition of this talented research leader to the INFANT Research Centre, noting that “Prof Cusack brings research expertise which is entirely complementary to the current expertise within INFANT, and as a result his addition will open exiting new research opportunities with potential to contribute to improved health outcomes”.

Prof Cusack is the Thomas Mitchell Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and head of the Cusack Lab in the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. As a graduate of Cambridge and the University of Birmingham, he has worked in the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge and more recently was Associate Professor at the Brain and Mind Institute of the University of Western Ontario. His research has been funded by the IRC, MRC, Wellcome Trust, BBSRC, EPSRC, CIHR, and NSERC. Rhodri has recently received a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant to explore neuroimaging and early infant brain development and has already started active research collaborations with INFANT in this area.

He and his team study the brain development of infants in their first year, a period in which many cognitive functions develop remarkably quickly. They also study how perinatal brain injury affects development and how some infants manage to be so resilient. Their research uses neuroimaging to predict the functional consequences of brain injury at an earlier age, as current behavioural and neurological tools are poor predictors of later impairments, which place stress on families and preclude earlier and more effective interventions. Prof Cusack’s team use a diverse set of neuroimaging methods. With magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) they study brain networks (using diffusion-weighted imaging, functional connectivity) and the developing responses to what an infant sees and hears (using functional MRI). They study infant behaviour and have pioneered ways to do large-scale testing online, and have developed many new tools that bring together computational models of cognition with new neuroimaging techniques, to answer the many fascinating and important questions concerning the origin of our minds. Prof. Cusack’s work and that of INFANT are well aligned strategically and this announcement highlights a formalising of current interactions.

We look forward to working with Rhodri, and warmly welcome him to the team.

An Post unveiled four €1 stamps on Wed 5 September titled “Irish Scientific Discoveries” at the international Schrodinger at 75 Conference in the National Concert Hall. The series of stamps highlight recent scientific discoveries made by scientists who work in pioneering research and development in Ireland.

The science-based stamps represent new areas of research, which are generating new knowledge, cutting-edge technology, and competitive enterprise. The four topics are examples of innovative and impactful academic research being carried out in academic institutions around the country: these are new forms of light, fighting superbugs, emissions adsorption, and INFANT’s seizure prediction algorithm.

Created by An Post in partnership with Science Foundation Ireland, the Irish Scientific Discovery stamps feed into Ireland’s rich scientific history, recognising its growing reputation for scientific excellence worldwide.  This standing is evidenced by Ireland’s ascent in global ranking of scientific citations – now the 10th most innovative country in the world (Global Innovation Index) and 11th for overall IMD World Competitive Ranking, 2017. A 2016 report into Opportunities and Challenges for European Tech Employers also showed 29% of Ireland’s population are now employed in science and technology.

Science Foundation Ireland– an agency of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation – is the national foundation for investment in scientific and engineering research and contributes to societal and economic awareness of the value of science, technology, engineering and maths to our economy and society. Science Foundation Ireland were involved in the selection of scientific breakthroughs which feature on the stamps.

Speaking at the launch of the stamps at the Schrodinger at 75 conference, Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland, said: ‘I am delighted to launch the stamp series dedicated to science in Ireland with An Post today. The release of the stamps comes at a fitting time, coinciding with the prestigious Schrodinger at 75 conference which welcomes Nobel Laureates and top researchers from around the world to Dublin. It is great to see our scientific achievements as a country being celebrated, as it is important to acknowledge our impact to date and to inspire our future work. This collection aims to showcase the excellent science and technology research ongoing across the country and encourages people to engage with it. The selected case studies represent just one small facet of the superb and wide-ranging contributions that Irish scientists are making to international advancements in STEM.’

The scientific discoveries featured on the stamps are a credit to the institutions from which this new and exciting work is coming, they recognise the teams and individuals who are applying their minds and their experience to new discoveries and they show the importance of scientific investment and research in shaping the future.   The stamps are designed by Dublin based design agency, Detail, and are available in the GPO, Dublin, at selected post offices nationwide or online at www.irishstamps.ie

MINISTER COVENEY OPENS NEW €5MILLION UCC PAEDIATRIC ACADEMIC UNIT

Ireland’s first integrated paediatric academic unit was officially opened on Monday 18th June by Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney, T.D. Following a multi-million euro investment by University College Cork, Science Foundation Ireland, and a generous philanthropic donation, the new unit is located in an exceptional tri-location between Cork University Hospital, Cork University Maternity Hospital, and University College Cork.

The first of its kind in Ireland, the new paediatric academic unit focuses on improving health outcomes for children, from infancy through to adolescence through teaching, research, and innovation. Home to more than 60 staff, including clinical and academic leaders, scientists, nursing staff and PhD researchers; the academic teams tackle clinical problems such as newborn brain injury, infant seizures, allergy, eczema, sleep, and explore ways of enhancing the long-term wellbeing and development of children.

Speaking at the official opening, Tánaiste Simon Coveney T.D. said, “This is a progressive and innovative step to improving children’s health in Ireland and internationally through academic research. The collaboration between clinicians, researchers, industry, trainees, patients and their families will yield enormously positive results to shape paediatric healthcare of the future. I would like to acknowledge the vision of UCC and the College of Medicine and Health in leading this development with the SFI funded INFANT Centre. The funding model for this initiative should also be lauded which has allowed significant exchequer funds via SFI and philanthropy to leverage substantial support from UCC to realise the overall investment required. ”

The new unit has a substantial footprint of 1400M2 covering 32 rooms, including state of the art assessment rooms for clinical studies, seminar rooms, clinical skills rooms, tutorial rooms, offices and laboratory spaces. The unit is the new home for both Paediatric Academic training and the paediatric clinical research arm of the world leading SFI-funded INFANT Centre. The unit will facilitate a range of clinical research programmes that will improve children’s health and support the exploration and development of new innovations by industry.

President of UCC, Patrick O’Shea noted “UCC is proud to invest in this facility as it will provide world-class teaching and research with real impact. The facility is now home to one of the leading paediatric research departments in Ireland and the clinical research of INFANT, a world-leading SFI Research Centre, which will support long-term sustainable and impactful research, talent development, and training for children’s research”.

Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health, Jonathan Hourihane noted, “This facility in the School of Medicine is integrated with the Cork University Hospital paediatric outpatient departments on the floor below. This will allow tomorrow’s doctors to see research-led healthcare being developed and delivered and will make patient research more understandable and accessible for children”.

“The development of clinical research infrastructure and research studies for children and infants is absolutely vital and will result in better outcomes for Irish children. Recruitment and retention of patients to clinical studies here in Cork leads the way in Europe. We are incredibly grateful to the Irish families who participate in our research and would like to take this opportunity to thank them sincerely for their dedication and support.” said Geraldine Boylan, Co-Founder and Director of the INFANT Research Centre and UCC Professor of Neonatal Physiology. “We would also like to sincerely acknowledge the support of the College of Medicine & Health, UCC Central Research Support Services for all of their assistance and ongoing support, and our colleagues in the Clinical Research Facility-Cork”.

New Research our Sphere Programme PhD candidate, Gillian Maher, has been published in JAMA Psychiatry.

The work is exploring the association between hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and other neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring.

Examining what the pooled estimates are from existing literature exploring the association between hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring, the systematic review and meta-analysis of 61 studies suggested that exposure to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy is associated with a small yet statistically significant increase in the odds of autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in offspring compared with no exposure.

Gillian and the team recommend increased developmental screening of infants who have been exposed to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, as this could allow for early intervention, which in turn may improve neurodevelopmental outcome.

FULL PAPER HERE: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2681643

INFANT is pleased to announce that it has been awarded €800,000 under the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI2) to improve clinical trial infrastructure for children and infants in Ireland.  Part of this funding will be used to set up a new network, In4Kids, to facilitate the development of new drugs for children in Ireland.  In4Kids will be the Irish hub of the pan-European multidisciplinary network.

CONECT4CHILDREN (C4C), comprising academia, medical institutions, industry, and affiliated partners.  The C4C consortium has been awarded €140 million by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI2) to improve clinical trial infrastructure for children and infants.  Partnership in the C4C network will provide In4Kids members with a gateway to access future funding from the network for Irish research.

Speaking at the launch of In4Kids, INFANT Director Prof Geraldine Boylan said, “Children must have access to innovative therapies and medicines that have been developed with the same rigour and urgency as those developed for adults.  The C4C network with its Irish partner, In4Kids, will accelerate the availability of high-quality scientific data that will improve the safe and effective use of medicines in children.”

With a budget of €140 million, C4C is one of the biggest awards funded through the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2, funded jointly by the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovative programme as well as the European Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).   The national hub for in4kids will be led by Clinical Research Development Ireland and will bring together a range of children’s clinical research experts, research organisations (e.g. NCRC) and specialty networks in Ireland (e.g. HRB Mother & Baby Network Ireland)

The network also aims to work with parent groups, young people’s advisory groups, regulators and other key partners in children’s research in Ireland.

Welcoming the launch of In4Kids, Dr Pat O Mahony, CEO of CRDI (Clinical Research Development Ireland) said, “The further development of the clinical research infrastructure and research activities for children and infants in Ireland under In4Kids will result in better outcomes for Irish children.  We welcome Ireland’s participation in the C4C programme and look forward to making a significant contribution through the In4kids national network which we are pleased to coordinate and support.”

Up to now, paediatric patients generally receive ‘smaller doses’ of adult medicines or dilution of therapies as they have not been specifically developed and trialled on children. Approximately 60% of medicines and therapies used to treat children have not been studied in children, and over 90% have not been studied in infants^[1].

The In4Kids network will support clinical research for children in Ireland and the development of new treatments. One of the key goals of this project is to support the use of innovative trial designs and new quantitative methods to foster the development of paediatric medicines and to support development in rare paediatric diseases and high medical need areas.  Through this co-ordinated collaboration across Europe that C4C provides, clinical trials will benefit from consistency across implementation, aligned quality standards, co-ordinated engagement with specialist and national networks as well as rigorous strategic and operationally effective trials specifically for children and infants.

Further details about in4kids can be found here:

www.in4kids.ie

We were delighted on Friday 11 May to launch the B-BEST START LifeMatters for Mums, Dads and New Born Babies handbook on Friday with author Dr Margaret O’Rourke, and alongside our Principal Investigator Prof Eugene Dempsey and Director, Professor Geraldine Boylan.

The B-BEST START Programme is part of the Infant Centre’s NeoView Programme, which aims to improve the outcomes of babies in the neonatal unit (NNU) by empowering parents to build their own health, well-being and resilience so that they can be active, informed and emotionally engaged with their new born babies, infants and children.

The focus of the day was on the Neonatal Unit (NNU). The NNU is a unit in the hospital that specialises in the care of babies, particularly those who are born too soon, who have a low birth weight, who have medical conditions that require additional care, and those recovering after surgery. In Ireland, approximately 1 in 10 babies will visit the NNU for at least a few days. The length of stay in the NNU will depend on baby’s size, prematurity, and medical circumstances.

Speaking at the event, Dr Margaret O’Rourke noted that the book helps to empower parents, “Babies need their mums and dads, and the programme is about making them central to their baby’s care. Babies can’t wait: the first 1000 days of their lives are absolutely critical for their future development, and this book helps parents to cope and do the best for their babies”.

The handbook offers a huge opportunity to make a difference to the next generation: the first three years of life (or first 1000 days) are critical to long-term outcomes, as the brain is rapidly developing and building its architecture. Early experiences on the developing brain are hugely important, particularly the relationship and caregiving from parents.

Funded by Science Foundation Ireland and Lincor Solutions, and working collaboratively with the Health Innovation Hub, the NeoView Programme has demonstrated how research, particularly in an intensive environment such as the NNU, can contribute to the care there, and effect change in patient outcomes. Staff have noted that the B-BEST START book can help in taking the “psychological temperature” down as stress can be contagious between parents and staff. The focus on practical activities that parents can do to bolster their resilience makes a huge difference to outcomes, noted by staff as having a very positive impact on parents.

Congratulations to the team!