A/Professor Suzanne Miller - Preventing cerebral palsy; from preclinical discovery to clinical trial

Cerebral palsy is the most common physical disability in childhood, caused by damage to the brain, either during pregnancy or around the time of birth. There is no cure for cerebral palsy, and it is now established that interventions to reduce neonatal brain injury and cerebral palsy must commence as soon as compromised development is detected. There are 4 pregnancy or birth complications that can damage the developing brain - preterm birth, in utero infection, fetal growth restriction (FGR), and birth asphyxia. Each of these will likely require a different therapeutic approach to prevent cerebral palsy, and my group is undertaking preclinical studies to understand, and inhibit, the cellular mechanisms that lead to brain injury.