How COVID-19 during pregnancy might affect the placenta and your baby's early brain development
Official title: Maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection, placenta biology, and neurodevelopmental outcomes in the offspring
Funded at Lieber Institute, INC. · NIH-11179191 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether having COVID-19 while pregnant changes the placenta and raises the chance of developmental problems in babies, especially for boys and those with genetic risk.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Lieber Institute, INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Baltimore, United States) |
| Project start | September 5, 2022 |
| Project end | July 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $1,451,606 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HD107140-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11179191 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are pregnant people with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy who can provide placental tissue at birth and agree to periodic follow-up visits for their child.
✕Less likely to help
People who were not infected during pregnancy, cannot provide placental samples, or cannot commit to follow-up visits are unlikely to receive direct benefit from participating.
What this research studies
If you join, researchers will collect information about your pregnancy and will collect the placenta at birth to look for changes linked to COVID-19. They will follow your child's early development with regular visits and tests to track attention, behavior, and other neurodevelopmental milestones. The team will combine placental biology with genetic risk scores and the child's sex to see who might be most affected. Results may help find early markers and guide monitoring or interventions for children at higher risk.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help doctors identify infants at higher risk for neurodevelopmental disorders earlier and inform ways to prevent or reduce those risks.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research shows infections during pregnancy can affect the placenta and child development, but linking maternal COVID-19, placental changes, genetics, and long-term child outcomes is a relatively new approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Lieber Institute, INC.
Baltimore, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Ursini, Gianluca — Lieber Institute, INC.
- Study coordinator: Ursini, Gianluca
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.