Women & Infants Hospital researcher awarded two grants to study treatments for perinatal brain injuries

PROVIDENCE – Dr. Barbara Stonestreet, a neonatal-perinatal specialist at Women & Infants Hospital, a Care New England facility, received two two-year grants totaling $881,100 from the National Institutes of Health to determine the most effective treatment strategies for full-term and premature infants exposed to hypoxia-ischemia and other perinatal brain injury, reported Women & Infants Hospital.

Perinatal brain injury often results in severe developmental disabilities such as neurodevelopmental delays and cerebral palsy. With three to five infants per every 1,000 infants suffering brain injury caused by hypoxia-ischemia – insufficient blood flow to organs and cells – at birth, resulting neurodevelopmental disabilities can impose lifelong burdens on society and the affected families.

Although IAIPs are considered effective in modulating inflammatory responses, Stonestreet said limited information exists regarding Inter-alpha inhibitor proteins’ neuroprotective properties, which could be beneficial in treating infants suffering from perinatal brain injury.

Stonestreet, who is also a professor of pediatrics at The Warren Alpert School of Medicine, said in a statement, “These studies have exciting translational potential for an important new treatment strategy to prevent or decrease brain injury in infants at risk for brain damage, mental retardation or cerebral palsy.”

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Stonestreet’s collaborators on these initiatives are Dr. Yow-Pin Lim, founder and chief executive officer of ProThera Biologics, a Providence-based company pioneering the application of Inter-alpha inhibitor proteins to severe inflammatory diseases, including hypoxia-ischemia; and Dr. Xiaodi Chen, an assistant professor of pediatrics (research) at Brown.

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