Overview
The Neurodevelopment and Neuroprotection research group is embedded within the Fetal and Neonatal Health Neurodevelopment and Brain Injury Theme of The Ritchie Centre. The group provides a focus for experimental and clinical studies directed towards understanding, and inhibiting, the mechanisms that contribute to perinatal brain injury and functional deficits associated with cerebral palsy. We strive towards the implementation of treatments to decrease neonatal brain injury and that can be effectively administered either during pregnancy or in the neonatal period. Such treatments include antioxidants, anti-inflammatory agents, and stem cells obtained from the cord blood and placenta.
Associate Professor Suzie Miller’s group comprises more than 20 members with experts in fetal physiology, neuroscience, stem cells, cardiovascular physiology, clinical obstetrics, neonatology and paediatrics. This group provides a highly-regarded training platform for biomedical and clinical students.
Diseases we research
Areas of focus
- Stem cells to reduce perinatal brain injury – fact or fiction?
- Protecting the intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) fetal brain with natural neurosteroids.
- Treating neonatal seizures with ganaxolone
- Can we modify neurovascular development in the IUGR brain with endothelial progenitor stem cells derived from cord blood?
- Umbilical cord blood stem cells to improve brain structure and function after severe birth asphyxia, when to administer and how many?
- Improving newborn wellbeing in a rural Indian community with a simple transdermal patch.
Research Group Head | Professor Suzanne Miller
Every 20 hours, an Australian baby is born with a brain injury that underlies cerebral palsy, a life-long condition with no cure. I am working towards new treatments that can be effectively administered, either during pregnancy or in the days after birth, to decrease neonatal brain injury and prevent cerebral palsy.
Meet the team
Dr Emily Camm
Senior Research Scientist
Professor Graham Jenkin
Senior Research Scientist
Dr Tamara Yawno
Research Scientist
Professor Michael Fahey
Honorary Clinical Associate
Associate Professor Atul Malhotra
Honorary Clinical Associate
Madeleine Smith
Honorary Research Associate
Dr Yen Pham
Research Support Staff
Dr Amy Sutherland
Research Support Staff
Beth Piscopo
PhD Student
Charmaine Rock
PhD Student
Tegan White
PhD Student
Sarisha Ahmed
Honours Student
Cherize Ramenaden
Honours Student
STELLAR Trial – treating fetal stroke
Are you pregnant with a baby that has been diagnosed with a fetal stroke?
This trial looks at the use of stems cells from the babies own umbilical cord blood collected at birth, being re-introduced to the bloodstream in the early weeks of life to reverse some of the damage to the brain caused by the pre-birth stroke.
ProtectMe Trial – fetal growth restriction (FGR)
Are you pregnant with a baby with FGR?
This trial looks at the use of melatonin to protect the developing brain of babies with fetal growth restriction (FGR) during pregnancy.
News from the lab
Student opportunities
Publication highlights