Giving Preterm Babies the Best Start
Dr Courtney McDonald and her team work to give very preterm babies the best possible start in life and her MRFF Early to Mid-Career Researchers Grant worth $1,190,000 over 4 years, with Hudson Institute of Medical Research and industry partners Cell Care, will help accelerate that work.
Dr McDonald studies the use of umbilical cord blood (UCB) cell therapy to prevent brain injuries in these tiny babies and this pre-clinical study will examine the use of expanding the number of UCB cells delivered, in cases where only small volumes of cells are available.
“Infants born extremely preterm have a high likelihood of brain injury, particularly damage to the developing white matter, but there are no neonatal interventions that can protect or improve brain development,” Dr McDonald said.
“Expanded UCB is already being used in children for blood disorders, so we know it is safe and preclinical and clinical results show that it can improve white matter development and functional outcomes.
“This study will investigate if expanded UCB cells are as neuroprotective for preterm white matter development as we have shown for unexpanded UCB cells, and whether expanded UCB cell administration also improves longer-term brain structure and function.”
About Monash University
Monash University is Australia’s largest university with more than 80,000 students. In the 60 years since its foundation, it has developed a reputation for world-leading high-impact research, quality teaching, and inspiring innovation.
With four campuses in Australia and a presence in Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia and Italy, it is one of the most internationalised Australian universities.
As a leading international medical research university with the largest medical faculty in Australia and integration with leading Australian teaching hospitals, we consistently rank in the top 50 universities worldwide for clinical, pre-clinical and health sciences.
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