Perinatal Inflammation and Neurophysiology
Research Group Head
Too much inflammation is a major cause of damage to the fetal and newborn brain that can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders, such as cerebral palsy. We focus on understanding how inflammation during pregnancy or shortly after birth impairs brain cell development and function, and study how anti-inflammatory interventions can improve brain development using a multidisciplinary approach that includes neuroscience, molecular biology, neurophysiology, medical imaging, and patient samples.
Through collaborative partnerships with clinical experts, academia and industry, we are discovering new and improved drug targets for the treatment of perinatal brain injury and developing physiological biomarkers and imaging technology to improve brain injury detection.
Research projects
How do systemic and neuroimmune activation trigger perinatal brain injury?
Optimising interleukin-1 receptor antagonist for neonatal neuroprotection
Developing new anti-cytokine therapies to protect the preterm brain
Improving brain injury detection using advanced magnetic resonance imaging and phase contrast computed tomography
Identifying brain injury biomarkers using electroencephalography
Brain or brawn? Is creatine an effective intervention for hypoxic injury in the preterm brain
