New approaches on Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: translational research to diagnose and monitor stem cell therapy

Overview

Project Summary

Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy is one of the most frequent sources of neonatal brain
injury caused by an episode of systemic asphyxia affecting 0.5-1 infants per 1000 live
births. It is a devastating episode with death of 10-60% of infants and at least 25% of
the survivors develop long-term neurodevelopmental damage, including cerebral palsy.
Besides the social impact, it is estimated that every living child will have an economic
impact of approximately 1 million dollars on direct and indirect costs. The statistics are
aggravated in very low birth weight newborns, as nearly 60% of premature infants are
affected by systemic asphyxia. There are i) no biomarkers to help on the diagnosis of
this episode, and ii) no biomarkers to monitor response to the therapy being applied,
either hypothermia or new revolutionary stem cell therapy. This project will be dedicated
precisely to these pitfalls by developing a plan based on solid preliminary data of
translational biomarkers research.

Project Details