How head injuries during pregnancy may affect a child's brain development
Gravida traumatic brain injury (TBI) impacts neurodevelopment of the offspring
This project looks at whether head injuries to a pregnant person can change how their child's brain develops.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Arizona NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Tucson, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11368117 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From a patient's point of view, researchers will use laboratory models to recreate head injuries that happen during pregnancy and then follow the offspring to see how their brains and behavior develop. They will test different timings of injury in pregnancy and measure things like anxiety-like behavior, brain circuit wiring, immune responses, and molecular changes in brain cells. Earlier work from this team found male offspring showed low birth or weaning weight, altered brain circuits, and changes in anxiety and immune signals, so the team will expand these measures and look more closely at cells and synapses. The goal is to determine whether maternal head trauma is an environmental risk that can shift fetal brain development.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People who might be most interested are pregnant individuals who have experienced head, neck, or facial trauma—including survivors of intimate partner violence—and parents of children exposed in utero to such injuries.
Not a fit: People without a history of pregnancy-related head trauma or whose child's problems are primarily due to known genetic conditions are unlikely to directly benefit from this specific work in the near term.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could show that head injuries during pregnancy raise the risk of developmental problems in children and inform prevention, screening, and early intervention strategies.
How similar studies have performed: This is a relatively new line of work: there are some prior animal data suggesting effects on offspring, but human data are essentially lacking and the approach remains novel.
Where this research is happening
Tucson, United States
- University of Arizona — Tucson, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Lifshitz, Jonathan — University of Arizona
- Study coordinator: Lifshitz, Jonathan
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 below.