Improving Cooling Treatment for Newborn Brain Injury
Official title: Neonatal Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy: Potential of Innovative NIRS to Optimize Hypothermia
Funded at Boston Children's Hospital · NIH-11093545 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks for better ways to guide cooling treatment for newborns who have experienced brain injury due to lack of oxygen.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Boston Children's Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | June 1, 2014 |
| Project end | May 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $758,755 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HD076258-09 |
| Project ID | NIH-11093545 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This research is relevant for newborns who have experienced a lack of oxygen at birth, leading to a condition called hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).
✕Less likely to help
Patients who have not experienced a lack of oxygen at birth or do not have HIE would not directly benefit from this specific treatment optimization.
What this research studies
Newborns who experience a lack of oxygen at birth can suffer brain injury, leading to serious health problems. While cooling therapy helps, many infants still face long-term challenges, and it's not always clear when to use this treatment for milder cases. This research uses a special light-based technology called NIRS to measure how much oxygen the baby's brain is using and how blood is flowing. By understanding these brain activities at the bedside, doctors hope to fine-tune cooling therapy and prevent further brain damage.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to more precise and effective cooling treatments, potentially reducing brain injury and improving long-term outcomes for affected newborns.
How similar studies have gone: Therapeutic hypothermia has already been proven to reduce brain injury in newborns with HIE, and this project builds upon that success by seeking to optimize its application.
Where this research is happening
-
Boston Children's Hospital
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Grant, Patricia Ellen — Boston Children's Hospital
- Study coordinator: Grant, Patricia Ellen
Related research
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Brain support cells in newborn brain injury after birth asphyxia
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Neonatal brain health: using a new NIRS approach to guide cooling therapy in newborns with HIE
A new NIH-funded approach aims to use bedside brain oxygen and blood flow measurements to personalize cooling therapy for babies with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.
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Brain-derived exosomes to detect and track newborn oxygen-related brain injury
This project looks for tiny brain-derived particles in newborns who had low oxygen at birth to help predict how they'll recover and whether cooling will help.
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We are creating a combined MRI and clinical tool to better predict long-term outcomes for newborns who had low oxygen to the brain (neonatal HIE).
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Understanding the Link Between Maternal Infection and Brain Injury in Newborns
This project aims to better understand how infections during pregnancy might affect a newborn's brain and lead to conditions like hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).
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A wearable device to monitor brain health in newborns with oxygen deprivation
This study is testing a new, affordable wearable device that helps doctors keep an eye on the brain health of newborns with a condition called hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) by measuring important markers in real-time, so they can act quickly to help these babies.
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.