Neonatal brain injury is a common cause of mortality and disability. Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) is one of the commonest causes of neonatal brain injury in full term infants. For every baby that dies from NE, another will survive with significant lifelong disability. A recent systematic review estimated that in 2010, 1.15 million babies suffered neonatal encephalopathy directly related to intrapartum asphyxia with 287,000 deaths, 233,000 infants surviving with moderate/severe disability and 181,000 living with mild impairment. This represents a massive global burden of disease, as these children develop their injury at the very beginning of life. It is estimated that worldwide, NE leads to 50.2 million disability adjusted life years (DALYS) each year. A recent HRB funded study by researchers in our consortium has shown that even infants with mild encephalopathy can have cognitive impairments at 5 years of age.
Ireland is at the forefront of research in the field of neonatal brain injury and has collaborative potential to be an international leader in this area. Researchers in this consortium have internationally recognized multidisciplinary expertise in neonatology, paediatrics, neurodevelopment, family-centred care, clinical trials and methodology, pharmacology, epidemiology, biostatistics, translational research and neuroimaging in neonatal brain injury. PhD students will have a holistic overview involving the entire translational research paradigm from basic science research, translational clinical research, clinical trials to epidemiology and population health while getting in depth expertise in their chosen area.
