Department of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland –

Understanding the Effects of Treatment to Prevent Brain Injury in Premature Babies

One of the most common pregnancy complications is giving birth too early.

In Canada, 8% of babies are born premature and while survival rates have improved dramatically, the risk of severe disability from brain injury remains high.  When a mother is at risk of premature birth, she is usually given a magnesium sulphate treatment to protect the baby’s brain.

There is conflicting evidence about the efficacy of this treatment and how it works.  One possible explanation is that only a subset of premature babies benefit from treatment. We will:

• Look at how magnesium sulphate works by using experimental mice that mimic different causes of premature birth
• Make use of magnetic resonance to study how chemicals in the brain change with treatment, and
• Look at whether the gender of the baby and/or the cause of the early birth should be considered, when making decisions about treatment

Professor Cahill is the recipient of a Banting Research Foundation Discovery Award 2020.