Research
Area 3
Fetal and Perinatal Medicine
Team manager
Eduard Gratacós
(Hospital Clínic)
GRATACOS(ELIMINAR)@clinic.ub.es
Strategic objectives
The principal strategic objective and the main part of the resources are dedicated to developing infrastructure and stable lines of multidisciplinary research for the prediction and prevention of prenatal neurologic damage of hypoxic and/or inflammatory origin, which incorporates as collaborators stable groups from fetal medicine, neonatology, pediatric neurology and molecular biology.
Other objectives of the team include the development and consolidation of the existing lines in different fields, such as perinatal infections, with special emphasis on HIV and neonatal infection, fetal therapy and surgery, screening strategies and prediction of fetal and maternal disease in large populations, and premature birth.
Main lines of research
1. Fetal and perinatal neurologic damage. We evaluate changes in the fetal cerebral parenchyma via image analysis (ultrasound, blood fraction on movement and NMRI-DTI), correlation with new markers of fetal myocardial function and with biochemical and genomic markers of ischemia and immune/endothelial hyperactivation, and the correlation with the neurologic development evaluated by function and neurostructure up to 6 years of age. Animal model of fetal hypoxia for studying cerebral endothelial activation in the genesis of neurologic damage and interference potential by blocking immune activation. The line also includes research relating to preeclampsia and fetal growth, perinatal asphyxia and neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.
2. Fetal diagnosis and therapy. As members of the European group Eurofoetus, we carry out studies on the fetal surgical treatment of monochorial pregnancy and congenital diaphragm hernia, and repair of fetal membranes by means of tissue engineering. Screening for markers of aneuploidy and maternal diseases.
3. Perinatal infection. The main line of research covers different projects in HIV and pregnancy, in national and international collaborations. Investigation of neonatal infection (perinatal and nosocomial infections, infections by respiratory syncytial virus, etc.
4. Perinatal disease. This is a mixed line that covers projects in premature birth (chorioamnionitis, aggressive nutrition), medical disease (diabetes, autoimmune diseases) and pregnancy, and neonatal respiratory disease (study of pulmonary inflammation and prevention of bronchial-pulmonary dysplasia).