Infant

Dr Juan Trujillo’s Research Into Strategies That Help CMPA Patients Reintroduce Milk Into Their Diet

Dr Juan Trujillo’s Research Into Strategies That Help CMPA Patients Reintroduce Milk Into Their Diet

By Comms|2022-04-05T15:03:14+01:00April 5th, 2022|

With the support of the National Dairy Council and Dairy Research Ireland, INFANT’s Dr Juan Trujillo, Senior Lecturer in UCC and Consultant paediatric allergist at Cork University Hospital, is the lead investigator on the COWS project, a study that aims to compare three different strategies that will help milk protein allergy (CMPA) patients reintroduce milk into their diet.

Usually diagnosed before a child reaches their first birthday, CMPA is one of the major complaints in the allergy clinic and impacts the well-being of patients and their caregivers.

Cow’s milk protein allergy is considered one of the major complaints in the allergic clinic.

Usually diagnosed before a child reaches their first birthday, it increases the burden on the patient and their caregivers.

The most common strategy employed in Ireland to treat CMPA is the Milk ladder, which incrementally reintroduces milk over time.

However, in other parts of the world, strict avoidance of cow’s milk is practised, and only reintroduced several years later depending on laboratory allergy parameters.

Alternative methods of treatment, including the administration of a limited amount of pasteurized milk in clinics, with subsequent doses administered at home, are employed in hospitals such as Miguel Servet in Zaragoza, a global leader in CMPA treatment.

As such, Dr Trujillo’s research will examine the three different approaches used to treat CMPA in order to form a greater understanding of how to handle the disease in future. This, he hopes, will also open doors for future research projects that could focus on egg allergy research.

Our research study will compare the three different strategies for the reintroduction of milk in CMPA in two Spanish hospitals, along with Cork University Hospital.

The treatment of allergies is not written in stone, several new approaches to target the way that allergies behave have been released in the last decade.

This study is part of my PhD research, and it has become an important part of my life during the last couple of years.

Dr Trujillo’s team includes medical students and research assistants from Spain and Ireland. Together, they have been working to collect data for much of the last twelve months.

PhD Profile: Tamara Escañuela Sánchez’s Study to Raise Awareness of and Reduce the Risk Factors Connected with Stillbirth

PhD Profile: Tamara Escañuela Sánchez’s Study to Raise Awareness of and Reduce the Risk Factors Connected with Stillbirth

By Comms|2022-03-30T15:09:53+01:00March 30th, 2022|

A graduate of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, INFANT PhD candidate, Tamara Escañuela Sánchez came to University College Cork to study under Professor Keelin O’Donoghue and develop a behaviour change intervention model that will raise awareness of and reduce the risk factors associated with stillbirth in Ireland.

Tamara’s multidisciplinary supervisory team is composed by Dr. Karen Matvienko-Sikar from the School of Public Health in UCC; Dr. Sarah Meaney, from the National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre; Professor Molly Byrne lead of the Health Behaviour Change Research Group, School of Psychology at NUI Galway and Professor Keelin O’Donoghue lead of the Pregnancy Loss Research Group at Cork University Maternity Hospital.

Funded by Science Foundation Ireland, Tamara’s research, titled The Relevant Study, examines the risk factors connected with stillbirth and ill health in babies such as substance abuse, sleep position, weight management and engagement with antenatal care.

Ultimately, Tamara hopes that her study might one day lead to the introduction of an initiative, similar to the Saving Babies’ Lives Care Bundle introduced by the NHS in the UK, that targets the modifiable risk factors for stillbirth in Ireland.

I have been looking at various studies that examine the different risk factors associated with still births.

The factors that I’m focussing on are substance abuse, sleep position, weight management and engagement with antenatal care services.

Changing behaviours associated with those factors could have a very real impact for women and their children.

My research looks at ways in which we might change those behaviours, the idea would be that we’d eventually create a care bundle like they have in the UK and Australia.

As part of her study, Tamara also reviewed pregnancy-related websites to assess the reliability of information connecting risk factors to stillbirths or ill health in babies.

Her findings, published in the Journal of Communication in Healthcare, highlighted the scarcity of information online and the need for greater communication so that women can identify the risk factors associated with stillbirths.

We looked at pregnancy related websites in the UK and Ireland and found that only one contained information relevant to the risk factors connected with stillbirths.

We also found that websites hosted by charities were more likely to contain basic information related to stillbirth, whereas commercial sites were more likely to contain information about modifiable risk factors.

It really illustrated the need for reliable sources of information so that women can make informed decisions.

As Tamara comes to the end of her study, she hopes to conclude her PhD research by summarising the challenges facing women who are looking to access relevant information on the risk factors associated with stillbirth.

By developing a list of recommendations, she also hopes that future researchers will be able to build on her study and develop a pilot intervention strategy that allows health authorities to target behaviours that contribute to stillbirth.

Liltoda wins UCC Innovation Award for CogniTOT Application

Liltoda wins UCC Innovation Award for CogniTOT Application

By Comms|2022-03-24T14:58:48+00:00March 24th, 2022|

Liltoda Ltd, the first academic spin out to emanate from the INFANT Research Centre at University College Cork, has been awarded a GatewayUCC Sprint Award by Professor John O’Halloran, President of UCC.

Launched in August 2021, Liltoda aims to develop and market novel technology-based solutions to the cognitive assessment of young children.

Its first product, the CogniTOT application, offers touch-screen based cognitive assessment for children aged 18-30 months.

It was developed through six years of research in the INFANT Centre, funded by both the Health Research Board and Science Foundation Ireland. The CogniTOT app is non-verbal and so suitable to use in children with speech delay or for whom English is not their first language.

Now in its sixth year, GatewayUCC Sprint Awards recognises the UCC researchers and entrepreneurs who establish spin-out start-up companies.

The Sprint Programme has been developed to help spin-out start-up companies overcome challenges they may encounter when starting their businesses.

As part of the programme, pre and early-stage start-ups work with successful business mentors who help to bring businesses from the idea stage through to the eventual commercialisation of the product or service.

Soraia Ventura Presents Her Research at World Sleep Congress

Soraia Ventura Presents Her Research at World Sleep Congress

By Comms|2022-03-23T11:28:24+00:00March 23rd, 2022|

INFANT PhD researcher, Soraia Ventura, presented her research at the World Sleep Congress in Rome on March 14 and 15.

The Congress consistently gathers the best minds in sleep medicine and research for multiple days of scientific sessions and networking. A truly global meeting, 77 countries were represented at World Sleep 2019, the last in-person iteration of the annual event.

This year’s event saw experts gather in Rome to deliver over 300 hours of courses, keynotes, symposia and abstract presentations.

Soraia’s oral presentation, titled, Infant Sleep as a Marker of Neurodevelopment, demonstrated how EEG analysis may be useful for early identification of the risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, allowing early intervention.

Her poster, titled, Effect of a standardized massage routine on sleep EEG in ex-term infants at 4 months of age: A Randomised Control Trial, concluded that routine parent-led massage during the first 4 months of life is associated with distinct changes in brain function that may suggest more advanced brain maturation.

Working under the supervision of Professor Geraldine Boylan and Dr. Sean Mathieson, Soraia is conducting her research as part of the BabySMART project.

INFANT Seminar Series: Dr Mark O’Sullivan to Discuss Neonatal EEG Monitoring – Hardware, AI and Medical Device Design

INFANT Seminar Series: Dr Mark O’Sullivan to Discuss Neonatal EEG Monitoring – Hardware, AI and Medical Device Design

By Comms|2022-03-22T10:34:57+00:00March 22nd, 2022|

Our next INFANT seminar will be this Friday, March 25th at 12pm, when Dr Mark O’Sullivan will present “Neonatal EEG monitoring – hardware, AI and medical device design”.

Dr O’Sullivan will present updates on the Neurobell Project, which aims to develop a portable neonatal EEG monitor with seizure detection, including methodologies for medical device design in a quality and regulatory compliant manner.

Lastly, Dr O’Sullivan will present new research from the Delphi Project on the design of an artefact detection algorithm for neonatal EEG and its impact on automated HIE grading.

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INFANT Seminar Series: Dr Dhanis Lad to Discuss the STOP AD Randomised Controlled Trial

INFANT Seminar Series: Dr Dhanis Lad to Discuss the STOP AD Randomised Controlled Trial

By Comms|2022-03-09T14:31:21+00:00March 9th, 2022|

Presentation title: Early initiation of short-term emollient use for the prevention of atopic dermatitis in high-risk infants – the STOP AD randomised controlled trial

Atopic dermatitis (AD), also known as eczema, is a chronic inflammatory skin condition, characterized by dry, red and itchy skin. AD usually begins in infancy and affects up to one fifth of children. Evidence of its pathogenesis implicates impaired skin barrier function as a significant pathomechanism, along with cutaneous immune dysregulation and microbial disturbances.

Emollients are moisturising treatments applied directly to the skin to soothe and hydrate it. Daily emollient use is a cornerstone of AD management. Recently, the spotlight has been on the potential role of emollients in infancy in preventing AD.

Short-term Topical Application to Prevent Atopic Dermatitis (STOP AD) was a single-centre, two-armed randomized control trial that postnatally recruited newborn infants at high-risk of AD. This study aimed to investigate if daily emollient use from birth to 2 months can reduce the incidence of AD in high-risk infants. Recruitment took place between April 2019 and November 2020 in Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH).

Infants were randomised within 4 days of birth to either twice-daily emollient application for the first 8 weeks of life (intervention) or to standard routine skin care advice (control group). The primary outcome was cumulative incidence of AD at 12 months. Secondary outcomes included AD incidence at 6 months, cumulative incidence of sensitization to food at 12 months and the evolution of TEWL and natural moisturising factor (NMF) between 0-12 months.

IWD 2022: Celebrating The Achievements of Our Female Research Team

IWD 2022: Celebrating The Achievements of Our Female Research Team

By Comms|2022-03-08T10:56:18+00:00March 8th, 2022|

On this International Women’s Day, we are delighted to celebrate the achievements of UCC female researchers based at the INFANT Research Centre, by demonstrating leadership in research that is transforming the future of maternal and child healthcare.

Led by Director Professor Geraldine Boylan, INFANT is answering the international need for research and innovation to improve health outcomes across the continuum of pregnancy, infancy and childhood.

Here are just examples of their work:

INFANT spin out company, Liltoda, led by Professor Deirdre Murray in collaboration with Hello Games, a global gaming company, is harnessing the power of innovative gaming technology to assess cognitive function in young children. This technology was developed by the team at INFANT and is now being rolled out across the world.

Dr. Jane English is leading a transformative study that aims to identify biomarkers in the blood (e.g. proteins or metabolites) that predict the onset of severe childhood autism. Early prediction will help support early intervention, improvements in health outcomes and enhance the quality of life of children with severe autism, and their families.

Professor Geraldine Boylan has led the world’s first clinical trial of an automated seizure detection device for newborn infants, a device which was developed by researchers at INFANT in UCC. This technology was recently commercialised and launched in Ireland and Japan by industry partner Nihon Kohden, a Tokyo based global leader in patient monitoring technology.

Prof Mairead Kiely, Dr. Elaine McCarthy and Dr. Áine Hennessy’s are the team of female researchers leading the way internationally in maternal and child nutrition research. This team are tackling problems such as iron deficiency in pregnancy and childhood, assessing iodine status in pregnancy and have developed novel technology to support a personalised nutrition approach for preterm infants in the intensive care unit.

Dr. Mairead O’Riordan, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, is leading recruitment to a clinical trial at Cork University Maternity Hospital that investigates the use of low-dose aspirin therapy for the improvement of pregnancy outcomes in women with diabetes.

Professor Keelin O’Donoghue leads pregnancy loss research at INFANT and is working closely with many stakeholders to increase awareness of pregnancy loss, to encourage more effective services/supports within the health care system and to ensure this research leads to the implementation of healthcare policy changes.

These are just some of the 53 female researchers based at INFANT who are dedicated to improving health outcomes for pregnant women, infants, and children.

Dr Elaine McCarthy’s Project to Screen for Iron Deficiency in Pregnant Women and Infants

Dr Elaine McCarthy’s Project to Screen for Iron Deficiency in Pregnant Women and Infants

By Comms|2022-03-01T09:05:03+00:00February 28th, 2022|

INFANT’s Dr Elaine McCarthy is the lead investigator on the IDEA project, a study that aims to develop two screening tools to identify iron deficiency among pregnant women and preterm infants.

Funded by the Health Research Board (HRB), it is anticipated that the project will lead to the creation of screening tools that can be integrated into clinical practice and allow for the early detection of iron deficiency.

Titled Iron Deficiency Assessment for protection of the newborn brain, the project has the potential to identify a condition that is estimated to affect 2 billion people worldwide, according to Dr McCarthy.

In Europe, one in three pregnant women are iron deficient, with even higher rates of up to 85% iron deficiency seen in some countries.

Similarly, high rates of deficiency are widely reported in infants and young children, with evidence suggesting as many as one in two young children are iron depleted or deficient.

If left untreated, iron deficiency will progress into iron deficiency anaemia, which can result in adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth or the birth of a low-birth-weight infant.

We want to protect women and their children from iron deficiency by creating a tool that will identify the mothers and infants who are at the greatest risk so that they can receive early treatment.

By taking such a preventive approach, Dr McCarthy, a Lecturer in the School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, believes that the IDEA project can lead to improved health and wellbeing outcomes and result in the overall enhancement of educational attainment, job potential and quality of life.

Dr McCarthy’s assertion is based on the fact that iron plays an essential role in brain development, with iron deficiency labelled as one of the leading causes of diminished neurological developmental potential worldwide.

From our earlier research, we know that women’s health and nutritional status both prior to and during pregnancy are critical to the health and development of their child.

Iron deficiency in the prenatal and early postnatal periods can have catastrophic consequences for both mother and infant, including long-lasting, irreversible deficits in cognition, motor function and behaviour.

Therefore, prevention and early detection are critical to protect the developing brain. Unfortunately, we currently don’t have a suitable screening system to enable this early detection of the most vulnerable.

As part of the initial phase of the project, Dr McCarthy and her team are inviting all pregnant women, aged over 18 years, living in Ireland to take part in a 20-minute online survey that seeks to evaluate nutrition knowledge, attitudes and practices.

Once the survey phase of the project is complete, Dr McCarthy will begin assessing the data before beginning the process of developing a set of predictive indicators that can identify iron deficiency in pregnant women and their infants. Field testing will then follow this phase to validate the operability of the screening tools in clinical practice.

INFANT Designed Brain Injury Detection Device Secures Enterprise Ireland funding

INFANT Designed Brain Injury Detection Device Secures Enterprise Ireland funding

By Comms|2022-02-23T12:23:35+00:00February 23rd, 2022|

A research team led by University College Cork’s (UCC) Dr Mark O’Sullivan in the INFANT Research Centre has been awarded funding by Enterprise Ireland to commercialise a medical device that could transform how clinicians are able to detect newborn brain injuries.

Presently, brain injuries in newborns account for 23% of all infant deaths and over one million cases of permanent disability each year. Seizures are often the most common diagnostic indication of brain injury. However, accurate diagnosis requires complex equipment and expertise which is not readily available.

The pocket-sized device, which is being developed by the Neurobell team at UCC’s INFANT Research Centre, will allow clinicians to rapidly diagnose potential brain injuries in newborns without requiring the specialised medical expertise needed to configure and manage complex EEG machines.

Dr O’Sullivan, a lead investigator with INFANT, believes that the novel device could potentially be deployed across all hospital settings, ensuring that clinicians could make rapid decisions using its AI-based decision support.

Although EEG is the gold standard for neurological monitoring, they are large complex machines that require specialised personnel to configure the equipment and interpret the hours of resulting EEG information.

This often restricts the use of EEG monitoring to tertiary hospitals, and even in such locations, the expertise is not readily available for EEG to be used routinely without significant delays.

We are building a portable and wireless device that can both record the EEG and provide AI-based detection of seizures.

This will provide clinicians with real time alerts and data, allowing them to quickly diagnose and treat potential brain injuries.

Currently at the prototype stage, the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund, which is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), will allow the Neurobell project team to execute on their plans to finalise the design of the medical device this year and to complete a clinical investigation in 2023. The 2 years of funding will be used to hire key engineering, clinical, and commercial personnel and to engage with industry partners. Following the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation funding, the team plan to establish a spin-out company to bring their novel technology to market.

The device builds on the AI-based research, recently recognised at the AI Awards Ireland, conducted at the INFANT Research Centre and combines multi-disciplinary expertise across medicine, computer science, and engineering.

Once complete, the device could result in positive health outcomes for a significant number of babies born in hospitals that don’t have access to EEG machines and expertise.

The cot side technology that we’re building is designed to allow for the neurological monitoring of newborns, across all hospital settings, helping those in need to be diagnosed and treated in a timely manner.

By developing a portable monitor with on-board decision support, we’re aiming to increase the number of hospitals capable of providing EEG monitoring for high-risk newborns.

The Enterprise Ireland funding underscores INFANT’s ambition to constantly strive and innovate in maternal and child healthcare, an area where there is huge potential and great clinical need according to INFANT Director, Prof Geraldine Boylan.

This technology will be disruptive and provide access for many more hospitals to brain monitoring, without the need for expert training or costly equipment. The potential for translation to low resource settings, where the burden of brain injury is highest is ground-breaking.

Since the inception of the Neurobell project, Dr. O’Sullivan has been supported by UCC Innovation through the GatewayUCC Sprint Accelerator programme and the IGNITE Business Innovation Centre.

INFANT Researchers Contribute to International Newborn Brain Conference

INFANT Researchers Contribute to International Newborn Brain Conference

By Comms|2022-02-15T09:50:35+00:00February 15th, 2022|

Professor Geraldine Boylan and Professor Deirdre Murray, alongside Ph.D candidates Minoo Ashoori and Dr Aisling Garvey, presented INFANT’s cutting edge research in areas such as neonatal sleep and neonatal encephalopathy at the International Newborn Brain Conference.

The annual International Newborn Brain Conference sees a host of acclaimed researchers from leading North American and European institutions explore new ways of understanding, monitoring, protecting and treating the newborn brain.

Now in its 13^th year, the conference provides continuing medical education to multidisciplinary professionals working to improve the neurological and developmental health outcomes of premature and high-risk newborns.

The prestigious conference took place between February 9-12 and saw both Professor Boylan and Professor Murray included among the list of globally renowned invited speakers.

Both Professor Boylan and Professor Murray were also members of the organising committee for the conference, they moderated panels and presentations, took part in debates and presented papers at what was a hugely engaging and incredibly successful conference.

Learn more about the International Newborn Brain Conference.

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