About this Research Topic
Every year, vast numbers of infants are at high risk of perinatal morbidity, poor neonatal outcomes and life-long disability because they are exposed to events such as preterm birth, fetal growth restriction, or they present with neonatal encephalopathy. Collectively these negative perinatal events compromise brain development and the high rate of disabilities include outcomes such as cerebral palsy, learning and attention difficulties, behavioural issues, and psychiatric disorders. There are only very limited treatments available to protect the newborn brain. As such, there is a critical need for further high-quality research into improved identification, stratification and care of these infants at risk of poor outcomes.
This Research Topic will bring together research focused on understanding the mechanisms leading to adverse neurological outcomes in newborns, and developing and testing treatments in these high risk populations. We are fortunate to have a therapy for neonatal encephalopathy, therapeutic hypothermia, but this is not completely neuroprotective and is difficult to implement outside high resource health care settings. Nevertheless, hypothermia shows that therapies are possible and we will address with this Research Topic the urgent need for adjunctive or alternative therapies to protect not only the newborn with neonatal encephalopathy, but also the newborn exposed to preterm birth and fetal growth restriction – where currently no neuroprotective treatments are available.
We would welcome a range of original manuscripts and reviews focusing on pathomechanisms and treatment options for infants exposed to negative perinatal events including (but not limited to) preterm birth, fetal growth restriction and neonatal encephalopathy. Manuscripts exploring new technical approaches, such as transcriptomics and proteomics, to understanding newborn brain injury and repair are encouraged. This Research Topic will also welcome studies performed in pre-clinical models and using patient data and samples.
This Research Topic will bring together research focused on understanding the mechanisms leading to adverse neurological outcomes in newborns, and developing and testing treatments in these high risk populations. We are fortunate to have a therapy for neonatal encephalopathy, therapeutic hypothermia, but this is not completely neuroprotective and is difficult to implement outside high resource health care settings. Nevertheless, hypothermia shows that therapies are possible and we will address with this Research Topic the urgent need for adjunctive or alternative therapies to protect not only the newborn with neonatal encephalopathy, but also the newborn exposed to preterm birth and fetal growth restriction – where currently no neuroprotective treatments are available.
We would welcome a range of original manuscripts and reviews focusing on pathomechanisms and treatment options for infants exposed to negative perinatal events including (but not limited to) preterm birth, fetal growth restriction and neonatal encephalopathy. Manuscripts exploring new technical approaches, such as transcriptomics and proteomics, to understanding newborn brain injury and repair are encouraged. This Research Topic will also welcome studies performed in pre-clinical models and using patient data and samples.
Keywords: Preterm Birth, Hypoxia-Ischemia, Fetal Growth Restriction, Newborn Brain Injury, Neonatal Encephalopathy
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
