Protecting newborn brains in babies born with transposition of the great arteries
Official title: The Risk of Acquired Neonatal Significant brain Injury during perinatal Transition in Congenital Heart Disease: TRANSIT CHD study
Funded at University of California, San Francisco · NIH-11306049 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Doctors will follow babies with transposition of the great arteries from pregnancy through birth to find early signs and ways to protect their brains during the newborn transition.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Francisco NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Francisco, United States) |
| Project start | May 1, 2022 |
| Project end | February 28, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $435,857 |
| NIH project number | 5R01NS125404-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11306049 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Pregnant people whose fetus has been diagnosed with TGA or a similar critical congenital heart defect and who can receive prenatal care and deliver at the participating hospitals are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People without congenital heart disease, newborns beyond the immediate perinatal period, or families who cannot receive care at a participating center are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
If your fetus is diagnosed with transposition of the great arteries (TGA), the team will follow you from late pregnancy through the newborn period using fetal imaging and neonatal brain monitoring. They will measure how blood flow and oxygen delivery change during the transition from fetal to newborn circulation, perform brain MRIs and neuromonitoring before surgery, and collect clinical data and samples to look for early markers of white matter injury. The goal is to link specific perinatal physiologic changes to brain injury risk and to identify care practices that might reduce that risk, such as timing of cord clamping. Participation would be coordinated with your clinical care and requires consent for imaging and monitoring procedures that are standard or low-risk in this setting.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify early markers and practical care changes that reduce newborn white matter injury and improve long-term brain development for children with TGA.
How similar studies have gone: Some prior work (for example on delayed cord clamping) has shown neuroprotective effects in newborns, but following fetuses with TGA from pregnancy through birth to find prenatal biomarkers of brain injury is a relatively new approach.
Where this research is happening
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University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Peyvandi, Shabnam — University of California, San Francisco
- Study coordinator: Peyvandi, Shabnam
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Brain injury risk in preterm babies with heart disease and how surgery choices affect their brains
This project follows newborns with congenital heart disease born early to understand how their brains are affected and how different surgical approaches might influence outcomes.
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Newborn brain injury risk during birth transition in babies with congenital heart defects
This project will look at how circulation changes around birth affect newborn brain health in babies with transposition of the great arteries.
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Brain injury risks in preterm newborns with congenital heart disease
This grant studies how being born preterm with congenital heart disease affects brain development and injury, to help improve outcomes for affected babies.
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Investigating brain injury in preterm newborns with congenital heart disease
This study is looking at how different heart surgeries for newborns with congenital heart disease might affect their brain development and risk of injury, especially for those born early, and it also checks if genetics play a role in their outcomes, all to help these little ones have better futures.
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Investigating brain injury risks in newborns with congenital heart disease.
This study is looking at how changes in blood flow and heart function when babies are born can impact brain health in newborns with a heart condition called transposition of the great arteries, and it aims to find ways to protect their brains and improve their care.
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Multimodal AI to improve genetic diagnosis of congenital heart disease
A new AI tool uses multiple types of patient data to help doctors find genetic causes of congenital heart disease more accurately.
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.