INFANT Centre News

Monday 15 April 2019 Launched today pregnancyandinfantloss.ie is a first-of-its-kind website for Ireland. A valuable resource for parents who experience pregnancy loss or perinatal death, the website provides accurate and accessible information on a sensitive and often stigmatised subject, shares the latest research into the causes of baby loss, promotes emotional well-being, and offers details on how to access the appropriate support services. “The website is a step forward in our commitment to consistent quality care for parents, as well as education and support for maternity staff while raising awareness of pregnancy loss and recognising its wide impact,” said Dr Keelin O’Donoghue, Consultant Obstetrician at Cork University Maternity Hospital and Principal Investigator at INFANT, Ireland’s only dedicated perinatal research centre. Dr O’Donoghue and her team at INFANT, UCC, are leading investigations into the causes of pregnancy loss and perinatal death. Pictured: Riona Cotter and Dr Keelin O'Donoghue Supported by funding from the Irish Hospice Foundation, the website is an initiative of the Implementation Group for the National Standards for Bereavement Care Following Pregnancy Loss and Perinatal Death. The programme of implementation of the Standards was led by Dr O’Donoghue and HSE Programme Manager Riona Cotter. The Standards, launched in August 2016, defined the care parents and families should receive following a pregnancy loss or perinatal death in all Irish maternity hospitals. “This is an example of the excellent resources available [...]

Monday 01 April 2019 The British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) has announced the recipients of the 2019 BNF Drummond Early Career Scientist Award – recognising early career excellence in nutrition science. Our postdoctoral researcher Dr Elaine McCarthy received the runner-up title. Elaine has been recognised for her work in the field of paediatric and neonatal nutrition, with iron nutrition in young children being the focus of much of her research. The BNF Drummond Early Career Scientist Award is an annual scheme run by the BNF. Applicants are judged on their contributions to nutrition science to date, their potential to become future leaders in the field, and the scientific merit and clarity of communication in their work. Well done Elaine!  

Tuesday 19 March 2019 Congratulations to our PhD researcher Gillian Maher who was selected for the Pfizer-SRI President's Presenter's Award. She received the award at the Society for Reproductive Investigation (SRI) 66th Annual Scientific Meeting in Paris, last week. Gillian's presentation at the meeting was titled 'Association between Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Population-Based Study'. The award was established to recognize the 25 most exemplary oral abstracts submitted by individuals still in training. INFANT was well represented at the conference. INFANT investigators Dr Fergus McCarthy and Dr Ali Khashan, along with PhD students were also in attendance; presenting an impressive seven posters and two oral presentations.

Pregnancy loss, in the form of early or late miscarriage, or stillbirth, neonatal or infant death, occurs in 20-25% of pregnancies and is the most common complication of pregnancy. Dealing with the loss of a baby or pregnancy is a very difficult time for parents and families and providing bereavement care is an integral part of any maternity service. Led by INFANT PI Dr Keelin O’Donoghue and with significant input from the INFANT/CUMH Pregnancy Loss Research Group, the accumulation of two year’s work on the HSE National Standards for Bereavement Care Following Pregnancy Loss and Perinatal Death was presented to 130 attendees at the Bereavement Forum at University College Cork last Saturday.   Members of the Pregnancy Loss Research Group, comprising staff from INFANT, UCC College of Medicine and Health and the National Perinatal Epidemiology Centre Dr Keelin O Donoghue, INFANT PI and Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, CUMH pictured with HSE programme manager Riona Cotter. The HSE National Standards for Bereavement Care Following Pregnancy Loss and Perinatal Death was implemented to enhance bereavement care services for parents who experience a pregnancy loss or perinatal death. Used as a resource for both parents and professionals – it provides the template for maternity units to develop a compassionate, caring service for parents who lose a baby due to miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death. Speaking on [...]

Monday 04 March 2019 The INFANT centre is made up of world-leading researchers from a variety of disciplines. Our engineers are involved in various research projects and their highly acclaimed work has been widely recognised. Our engineers are working collaboratively with a number of academic and industry partners from all over the world to improve the health of mothers and babies and to prevent poor outcomes. We asked them to tell us a little about the projects they are working on and what excites them about their role.  

Friday 01 March 2019 Held annually in over 30 countries across the globe, FameLab is the world's largest science communication competition. The Cork event took place at Triskel Arts Centre on Wednesday night. Armed only with their wits and a few props, the newest voices from the world of science and engineering across the county delivered short 3-minute presentations on a range of science topics. Representing INFANT, PhD student Sam Manna presented a fun and engaging talk on 'Anti-Ageing 101'. Well done Sam and to everyone involved.

Thursday 28 February 2019 A team from INFANT travel to Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute in Moshi, Northern Tanzania this week. As Ireland’s first and only perinatal research centre, INFANT is focussed on making pregnancy safer and improving health outcomes for mothers and babies worldwide. In particular, the centre’s Global Health Program is committed to translating the centre’s innovations into affordable, accessible interventions in countries where the clinical need is greatest and will have the highest impact. In 2016, INFANT signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute (KCRI), the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC), and the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College (KCMUC) establishing a collaborative research partnership in a number of scientific and clinical areas. Mike Cuneen, INFANT Software Developer presenting the new cloud-based birth registry to KCMC clinicians. This partnership is currently working on a project to enhance the KCMC birth registry. Birth registry data is a vital source of information for healthcare providers, funders and policy makers as it contains data on maternal and infant outcomes from each baby born every year. INFANT engineers and software developers initiated and developed this project to enhance the KCMC Medical Birth Registry, making this hugely valuable data accessible to researchers beyond KCMC and INFANT.  This week INFANT will pilot the new high quality, cloud-based birth registry, provide essential training to staff and implement improvements to the [...]

Tuesday 19 February 2019 This week, INFANT Director and Associate Investigators presented at ‘The Future of Machine Learning’ Conference at the Maryborough Hotel, Cork. The event organised by MIDAS, in conjunction with Qualcomm and UCC brought together experts in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning to encourage collaboration and innovation that leverages machine learning in Ireland. The day included discussions on why machine learning is important to Ireland and how Ireland’s machine learning research and development is establishing and pushing the research vision. Prof Geraldine Boylan presented 'Big ideas for little brains – using AI to help identify brain injury in newborn infants'. Using artificial intelligence, INFANT has developed the world’s first AI algorithm that can detect seizures in newborns and the centre is continuously looking at ways to integrate AI into its healthcare research. INFANT has a large portfolio of projects for AI in healthcare research and last year won the AI Ireland National Award for 'Best Appilication of AI in an Acaedemic Research Body'. Speaking after the event Prof Boylan said, "I was delighted to present at this high calibre event and for the opportunity to network with colleagues in academia, industry and Government. We are really at the start of a revolution in the use of AI for health care that will shape the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the future. Partnering with AI and machine [...]

Monday 04 February 2019 Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD, and Minister for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development, John Halligan TD, today announced €4.5 million in funding for 38 research projects to support the commercialisation of government-funded research. The funding is provided through Science Foundation Ireland’s Technology Innovation Development Award (TIDA) programme, which has been running since 2009. The programme provides project development funding and training in entrepreneurship skills to third-level researchers, to support them in exploring commercial opportunities associated with their research. John was awarded €124,712 which he will use to support the development of a computer-based system that continuously monitors the brain health of preterm infants in intensive care. Worldwide, over 2 million infants born prematurely are at an increased risk (1 in 3) of brain injury. This injury can be fatal or can result in a lifetime of disability. Knowing which infants are at risk ensures that that the right infants get the right medical care at the right time. John and his research group will pursue commercial pathways to transition this technology from academia to industry in order to safeguard the brains of this vulnerable population. Pictured: Dr John O Toole Researchers funded through the TIDA programme will also participate in the new SFI Spark Pre-Accelerator, which is an intensive five-day programme delivered by the DCU Ryan Academy for [...]

Friday 18 January 2019 CREATE was launched last night at St. Peters Gallery. The pregnancy and neonatal journey can be beautiful and scary, joyous and heartbreaking. It can be miraculous, frustrating, sought after or unexpected. It can be straightforward, or it can wind and twist through our lives. We think of it as nine months, but it can be years of trying. It can end unexpectedly. It can resonate for decades afterwards. Every single pregnancy and neonatal journey is unique. In this exhibition, the HRB Mother and Baby Clinical Trial Network, a network of obstetricians, neonatologists, midwives and related health professionals brought together to carry out research on women’s and children’s health, hope to highlight common pregnancy and newborn health issues and celebrate the impact of perinatal research on mothers and babies in Ireland and internationally. The network which brings experts from seven of the largest maternity hospitals in Ireland together are focusing on improving the health and lives of mothers and babies in Ireland and around the world. INFANT co-leads the network. Featured artist Yonit Kosovske Speaking at the launch of the CREATE Exhibition, Prof Geraldine Boylan INFANT Director said, “INFANT is delighted that we have the opportunity to host CREATE in Cork and to showcase the exhibition to our local community. It is wonderful to see scientists and artists working together, to share knowledge and [...]

Wednesday 16 January 2019 At a launch event yesterday in Dublin, SFI revealed twenty projects are set to be funded by their Starting Investigator Research Grant (SIRG) in 2019. The prestigious grant for early career researchers supports postdoctoral scientists as they develop the necessary skills and experience required for a fully independent research career. Two INFANT and UCC researchers were worthy recipients in the areas of maternal and infant nutrition and novel therapies for premature babies. INFANT researcher Dr Aine Hennessy was awarded €424,898 over four years to develop her project “An exploration of the suitability of thyroid hormones in measuring iodine deficiency during pregnancy and its impact on infant brain development”. The nutrient iodine plays a central role in the production of thyroid hormones. During pregnancy, iodine deficiency can result in severe and long-lasting consequences for an infant’s developing brain. In Ireland, three-quarters of women have inadequate iodine intake. However, the magnitude of this impact on the brain development of Irish infants is unknown. As there is no reliable measure of individual iodine status, this proposal will test the suitability of thyroid hormones to be used as a proxy measure. The data from previous studies will be used to describe the impact of maternal iodine deficiency on the neurodevelopment of infants. This funding will allow Aine to continue her research at INFANT, supervise a [...]

Monday 07 January 2019 Lack of oxygen to the brain at birth affects almost 200 babies in Ireland each year and results in death  or disability in over 2 million infants each year globally. The condition, known as Hypoxic Ischaematic Encephalopathy (HIE), causes brain injury due to lack of oxygen and can leave newborns with permanent neurological damage or cerebral palsy. HIE can be difficult to detect in newborns; early intervention and treatment is vital to improving outcomes and and reducing the impact and severity of the brain damage. Researchers at Ireland’s dedicated fetal and neonatal research centre, INFANT Centre, along with collaborators at UCC and the Karolinksa Institute in Sweden have identified two biochemical signals that can be used to aid the detection of birth-related brain injury. These blood biomarkers found in the umbilical cord could provide an early detection system for HIE in newborns. Early intervention in neonatal brain injury is critical so that the successful brain cooling therapy can be initiated immediately to reduce brain injury and improve outcomes. The findings published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Neurology, validated the involvement of two microRNAs in HIE. microRNAS are small strands of genetic code that can control gene expression and protein production in the cell. They are found throughout the body, and INFANT researchers have found them to be [...]

Friday 21 December 2018 AI is helping babies at risk of brain injury Time is critical for doctors treating newborn babies with suspected brain injuries. The sooner treatments such as whole body cooling can be used, the better the outcomes are likely to be. Doctors rely on the results of EEG brain monitoring to give them crucial information. But these brain scans are so detailed they can only be interpreted by an expert, and there aren’t enough experts for someone to be at every cot side. Wellcome-funded researchers at the INFANT Centre at University College Cork are developing the first ‘smart’ system to recognise patterns in electrical brain activity, which will help to identify babies who need treatment quickly. Read the full article here: https://wellcome.ac.uk/news/10-ways-remarkable-research-protecting-health

Friday 14 December 2018 Since its establishment through a research Centre award from Science Foundation Ireland,  and under the continuous leadership of Professor Geraldine Boylan, the INFANT Centre at UCC has been responsible for a number of innovative breakthroughs that are saving lives and improving outcomes for babies and their families every day, as well as shaping perinatal medicine around the world. With a national and international focus, INFANT is now collaborating with over 35 industry and academic partners in more than 30 countries. INFANT research is continually published in top-ranking international journals, while pioneering research in pre-eclampsia, newborn brain injury, infant nutrition, and infant allergy is solving global clinical challenges. INFANT Director Geraldine Boylan commented on the high impact research emanating from Ireland’s perinatal research centre, saying “INFANT has grown rapidly in its first 5 years. Not only have we grown in scale, industry collaborations and partnerships, but also in ambition and innovation. The INFANT team are responsible for internationally significant breakthroughs in perinatal and paediatric medicine, as well as research that is influencing and positively changing lives and outcomes for families every day. “We are currently working on frontline research in areas such as early autism diagnosis, supporting newborn brain health and cognitive function, to treating the causes of allergy, eczema and asthma, among several other key projects.  INFANT will continue to break [...]

Thursday 29 November 2018 We’ve reached a milestone! The ENRICH team recently reached a significant milestone in the study completing all the 4-month appointments. The Infant Baby Enrichment Research Programme, is better known as ENRICH. The programme - co-funded by Johnson & Johnson and Science Foundation Ireland - is focused on understanding how sleep contributes to the healthy development of infants. Studies have shown that brain development and learning are heavily influenced by sleep. Regular, quality sleep helps to optimise physical growth and brain plasticity, while a lack of sleep has been linked to long term negative impacts on behaviours and learning ability. The ENRICH programme is examining the effect of massage, delivered by the parents, trained according to a structured programme, on both the quality and quantity of sleep and on subsequent neurodevelopment. Baby Conor and his mom Colleen pictured with Sean Mathieson, ENRICH senior clinical physiologist. Since October 2017, a total of 182 participants attended the 4-month appointment in Cork University Hospital. Each appointment included a standardised development assessment (known as the Griffiths III assessment), a tool that is used to assess developmental ability in children. Following this assessment, infants then undertook a sleep EEG study. The EEG study was used to record a full sleep cycle which typically lasts 40 minutes for 4 month old infants. What next? The developmental outcome recorded [...]

Wednesday 28 November 2018 Last Friday, Fáilte Ireland honoured 83 of its leading Conference Ambassadors at a glamourous award ceremony at Christ Church Cathedral. The recipients - from a variety of backgrounds, including academia, medical science, technology, environment, and culture amongst others - were nominated for an award by the Irish conference and meetings industry. INFANT Director Prof Geraldine Boylan pictured with Fáilte Ireland Chairman Michael Cawley and Chief Executive Paul Kelly. INFANT Director Professor Geraldine Boylan was given special recognition on the night for her significant contribution to international conferencing in Ireland, taking home the Conference Ambassador of the Year Award. In 2015, Geraldine won her bid to host the 9th International Conference on Brain Monitoring and Neuroprotection in the Newborn in Cork. Having hosted a successful conference, Geraldine won it again for 2017, this time bringing the delegates to her home county of Kerry. Delegates came from Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand, China and Japan. INFANT Principal Investigator Dr Keelin O'Donoghue was also presented with a Conference Ambassador award, recognising her contribution to conferencing in Ireland. Keelin was instrumental in delivering the International Stillbirth Alliance Conference in Cork last year. Dr Keelin O'Donoghue (bottom left) pictured with fellow Medical Sciences Conference Ambassador Awardees. Geraldine said, “Bringing scientific conferences to Ireland is hugely important for showcasing Irish science and innovation internationally. It is also a very strong endorsement [...]

Wednesday 21 November 2018 Our Phd researcher, Sonia Lenehan, was voted the winner of Neon Zone’s I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here! I’m a Scientist is an online STEM engagement event where students chatted and interacted with scientists through online chats and forums. The students then voted for their favourite scientist. Sonia was asked a variety of questions such as ‘what got you into brain development’, ‘what are you hoping to achieve with your eye-tracking assessments’, and ‘which do you prefer, Ravenclaw or Gryffindor’ (Gryffindor!!). The students were incredibly engaging and Sonia really enjoyed being a part of the event. The questions were incredibly thoughtful and insightful. Sonia had an amazing experience and would encourage scientist at all stages of their careers to consider taking part in this event. Sonia wins €500 to be used for a public engagement project of her choice. Sonia plans to work with the National Council for the Blind with the intention of setting up an interactive science programme for children with visual impairments or blindness.

Monday 19 November 2018 The world’s largest peanut allergy treatment trial, involving more than 30 Irish children, has found that a new oral treatment can successfully reduce senstivity to peanuts, and offers a real lifeline to those affected by the most common food allergy and the single cause of most food allergy deaths. Through his work as Principal Investigator at the INFANT Centre, Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at University College Cork, Jonathan Hourihane has been leading the revolutionary immunotherapy trial in Ireland, which has shown that more than two thirds (67%) of those on the treatment could tolerate peanuts after the trial. This tolerance gives peanut allergy sufferers real safety, and the ability to cope with accidental exposure in the community. “Up to now, without any treatment available, peanut allergy has put children and adults at risk of unpredictable and occasionally life-threatening reactions.  The AR101 immunotherapy is a real breakthrough for those affected by peanut allergy.  It works by introducing initially minute controlled amounts of peanut protein, with escalation over a sustained period of 6 to 12 months, building up a patient’s tolerance to peanut. We have seen patients go from being highly allergic to very small doses, like one tenth of a peanut, to being able to manage to eat the equivalent of 2 or 3 peanuts without a significant reaction. This is a game changer for anyone living with this allergy,” said Prof. Hourihane of the INFANT Centre. This industry-sponsored research and clinical trial has resulted in the publication of Prof. Hourihane’s co-authored paper [...]

Wednesday 07 November 2018 INFANT's preterm nutrition team last night received the Health and Social Care Professions Driving Quality and Improvement Award for their BabyGrow Project. The winners were announced at the Inaugural Best Practice and Innovation Awards hosted by the HSE’s Health & Social Care Professions Office in the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, on the 6th November. The National HSCP awards recognise and celebrate examples of best practice and innovation. Pictured L to R: Ms. Sarah Fenton, Senior Pharmacist; Dr. Ann-Marie Brennan, Clinical Specialist Neonatal Dietitian; Ms. Jennifer Wilkinson, Senior Neonatal Dietitian; Mrs. Annemarie Fanning, Dietitian Manager; Dr. Brendan Murphy, Consultant Neonatologist. BabyGrow: Translating Research into Improved Nutritional Care for Preterm Infants was a multi-disciplinary preterm nutrition project, led by Prof Mairead Kiely (Nutrition Scientist, INFANT Nutrition platform lead), Dr Brendan Murphy (Consultant Neonatologist) and Dr AnnMarie Brennan (Neonatal Dietitian). The collaboration in preterm nutrition between Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH), University College Cork (UCC), industry and the HSE was initiated over a decade ago and continues to grow within the Nutrition platform at the INFANT centre. The goals of the BabyGrow study was to quantify nutritional support and growth rate in preterm infants in the NICU and to develop and deliver data driven innovations for improvement of nutritional support. Dr Brennan conducted her PhD on BabyGrow and her analysis of parenteral nutrition, the focus of the HSCP award, [...]

Friday 02 November 2018 As published in UCC, College of Medicine and Health "The Research Impact Anthology - Research for a Healthier Future". When babies are born it is usually a joyous occasion. In most cases it goes well, but some babies are born either too soon or very sick. They may not have grown well enough in the womb or may have suffered an injury during labour. When you consider that there are 65,000 babies born annually in Ireland - the highest birth rate in Europe - then it is not surprising that we need a research centre to explore how we can make pregnancy and birth safer for our mums and babies,and improve outcomes. Our dedicated perinatal translational research centre reaches out from the bench to the cotside - often little incubators - in a very real way, so that our innovations are put into clinical practice. Our centre is the first of its kind in the country. INFANT, the Irish Centre for Fetal and Neonatal Translational Research, was established in September 2013 by Prof. Geraldine Boylan and Prof. Louise Kenny, two innovative academics in perinatal research at our college. They secured a starting grant from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) to develop a dedicated research centre in UCC. Geraldine’s speciality was in the neurophysiology of the baby brain and Louise’s expertise was in [...]

Wednesday 24 October 2018 Emma Snapes, INFANT’s Biobanking Manager received the National Standards Authority of Ireland award at the NSAI Annual Standards Forum in Dublin. The award was in recognition of Emma’s exceptional dedication to standards development. Emma is the Irish academic representative and International Expert to ISO TC276 for Biotechnology and was instrumental in the development of ISO 20387 (2018): EN, the first dedicated biobanking standard. Emma is continuing her work with ISO TC276 and is currently working on a technical report that will accompany the biobanking standard to help interpret the requirements for each unique set up. "I would likely to sincerely thank all the many individuals too numerous to mention in helping promote the Irish biobanking voice and in particular its expression in the horizontal biobanking standard. Encouragingly, this voice was one I often heard echoed back from other countries experts. It is my hope that those who undertake to fulfil the requirements laid out in the standard will realise the value in resultant high quality, reproducible results and timely achievement of research goals. Special thanks to my biobanking colleague and dear friend, Dr Aisling Doyle, who accompanied me to the award ceremony in Dublin. Aisling and I work closely together and together provide constant round the clock support for INFANT’s biobanking concerns. I remain ever grateful to INFANT directorship and UCC management for enabling [...]

Monday 22 October 2018 INFANT research matters   A huge thanks to everyone who contacted us or campaigned to raise awareness about INFANT over the last few weeks. Your generosity and support is extraordinary and we are immensely grateful. We want you to know that the INFANT team is determined to continue delivering high impact and vitally important research for the benefit of women and children in Ireland and worldwide.   Geraldine Boylan Director, INFANT Research Centre INFANT will continue delivering high impact and vitally important research

Thursday 11 October 2018 New Research by INFANT PhD candidate, Gwinyai Masukume has been published in Scientific Reports. The work is exploring the association between Caesarean Section (CS) and childhood obesity. Childhood obesity has been linked to CS via lack of exposure to vaginal microflora although the literature is inconsistent. The team investigated the association between CS birth and the risk of childhood obesity using the nationally representative Growing-Up-in-Ireland (GUI) cohort. There was insufficient evidence to support the link between CS and childhood obesity. The study recruited 11134 infants. The exposure was categorised into normal vaginal birth (VD) [reference], assisted VD, elective (planned) CS and emergency (unplanned) CS. After further analysis of the infants weight and height the team found insufficient evidence to support a causal relationship between elective CS and childhood obesity. FULL PAPER HERE: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-33482-z

Wednesday 10 October 2018 Our research partners, Incereb Ltd, manufacturer of the neon neonatal EEG electrode array, have been aquired by Lifelines Neurodiagnostic Systems, Inc., provider of neurodiagnostic equipment and services. Simon Griffin, CEO of Lifelines, noted, “We have been working with Incereb for several years in the US market, and their neon product is a perfect fit with our technology and growth plans. We are very excited not only to work with Jim Roche and Incereb on new product development but also with the INFANT Centre at University College Cork and the fantastic research being performed there under the stewardship of Professor Geraldine Boylan.” Jim Roche, CEO of Incereb, noted "We have worked with Professor Geraldine Boylan since the formation of Incereb, and as an industry partner in INFANT. With LIfelines as our partners, and with their technology fitting seamlessly with Incerebs technology, we are now able to offer a complete EEG monitoring solution for the ICU". Congratulations to Incereb Incereb will remain operating in Dublin as a subsidiary of the Lifelines group of companies. Plans are to increase R&D spending on a new product pipeline and grow the business by developing new markets and product lines. “This is a perfect fit for Incereb in terms of our product offering and Lifelines’ sales and distribution network,” says Incereb CEO, Jim Roche, of the acquisition. Incereb has been working with Lifelines since 2015 [...]

Monday 08 October 2018 Our PhD researcher, Rachel Williamson, won a Young Investigator Award from the Preeclampsia Foundation at the ISSHP European Conference in Amsterdam.   Eleni Tsiagas of the Preeclampsia Foundation and Rachel Williamson, winner of the Young Investigator Award, ISSHP 2018     Rachel's presentation at the conference is entitled Investigating the Therapeutic Effects of L-Ergothionine As A Treatment for Pre-eclampsia  Abstract: Pre-eclampsia is proposed to result from placental ischemia, explosing the placenta to elevated levels of oxidative stress. L-Ergothionine is a natural water-soluble compound derived from histidine and is a physiological antioxidant due to its preferential concentration in high oxidative stress organs. L- Ergothionine has been shown to possess antioxidant, cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory effects, establishing its potential as a treatment for preeclampsia. Objectives: To investigate the therapeutic effects of L- Ergothionine as a treatment for preeclampsia using the in-vivo reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) rat model. Methods: L- Ergothionine (25mg/kg/day) was administered on gestational day 11 (GD11). RUPP was induced by placing silver clips on the abdominal aorta and the ovarian arteries on GD14. Mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) and vascular function were measured in all four groups. Pup and placental weights were also measured. Data is presented using the mean ± SD. Results: L- Ergothionine reduced MABP in the group compaed to RUPP controls (134 mmHg  143 mmHg). There was a significant reduction in pup weight in RUPP control group compared to sham controls [...]