Cardiac remodelling in preterm-born offspring: defining the importance of early postnatal changes and potential for neonatal dietary interventions to reduce long-term risk
Dr Adam Lewandowski’s research focuses on studying heart health in babies that are born prematurely. He has previously shown that there are differences in the structure and function of the heart in babies born before 37 weeks of pregnancy compared to babies born at full-term. In this study he will explore how these heart changes in preterm babies continue into adulthood. To do this, he will track the progress of children and young adults who were studied as babies to investigate how their hearts have changed over time. Two groups will be studied using echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging to obtain detailed pictures of the heart. The first group is made up of premature and term-born children recruited at birth. The second is young adults born prematurely who took part in a clinical trial comparing breast milk with formula milk. The aim is to find out whether changes seen after birth continue into childhood, whether they influence the heart’s ability to pump blood around the body, and whether nutrition in new-born babies can influence their heart health in later life. This will reveal the importance of heart changes that occur in the first months of life to long-term heart health in people born prematurely.
Project details
| Grant amount | £704,616 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Fellowships |
| Application type | Intermediate Basic Science Research Fellowship |
| Start Date | 01 May 2018 |
| Duration | 5 years |
| Reference | FS/18/3/33292 |
| Status | In Progress |
