How low oxygen from a mother's sleep apnea may affect a baby's brain before birth
Official title: Mechanisms of Hypoxia-Mediated Disturbances in Cerebral Maturation in a Fetal Ovine Model of Maternal Sleep Apnea
Funded at Oregon Health & Science University · NIH-11245749 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers are using a sheep model to learn how brief drops in oxygen during a mother's sleep apnea can change a baby's brain before birth.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Oregon Health & Science University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Portland, United States) |
| Project start | January 1, 2023 |
| Project end | November 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $626,827 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL163517-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11245749 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This work is most relevant to pregnant people in the third trimester who have sleep-disordered breathing or known sleep apnea.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not pregnant or whose sleep problems do not cause repeated low-oxygen episodes are unlikely to benefit directly from this research.
What this research studies
If you're pregnant, the team uses pregnant sheep to mimic the short, repeated low-oxygen episodes that happen with sleep apnea and measures oxygen in the unborn baby's brain with safe light-based monitoring. They focus on the fetal hippocampus, a brain area important for learning and memory, to look for cell injury, inflammation, and damage to white matter. The researchers also examine nerve cell branches and tiny connection points, and record how brain cells fire and form signals that underlie learning. Together these steps aim to link late-pregnancy low-oxygen episodes to possible lasting changes in learning and memory after birth.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal how maternal sleep apnea harms fetal brain development and point to ways to prevent or treat those effects in babies.
How similar studies have gone: Previous animal studies suggest repeated low-oxygen episodes can harm fetal brain development, but detailed links to later learning problems and the exact mechanisms remain under study.
Where this research is happening
-
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Back, Stephen Arthur — Oregon Health & Science University
- Study coordinator: Back, Stephen Arthur
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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.