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Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory

Based at the Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, in a purpose built facility adjacent to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory has recruited a team of 14 highly talented and motivated researchers, trainee obstetricians and paediatricians, scientists, midwives and technicians.  Supported and supervised by an array of senior colleagues, they are working on pioneering research projects which are making significant progress towards resolving some of the life threatening complications that can arise during pregnancy.

Launched by PiggyBankKids in 2004, the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory has established an enviable reputation, with applications from young clinicians and scientists who recognise the exceptional opportunities to enhance their skills by working in such a vibrant laboratory.

Much of our pregnancy research involves trying to understand what causes preterm labour, the single biggest cause of death and disability amongst new babies, so that treatments can be developed to prevent this.

Our researchers are also looking at organ damage in the premature babies, concentrating on the effects of inflammation and infection on preterm labour.  Dr Laing and Dr Becher are leading a team studying the effects of inflammatory proteins on the developing brain and retina.

Our other main focus is on pre-eclampsia, a condition which can have devastating effects for both mother and baby.

Our research projects

Three of the original four Research Fellows have completed their research and returned to clinical work, and continue to report and present their studies, publishing papers in medical journals and attending specialist conferences.

Dr Anne Armstrong has completed her work on a new and exciting possible predictor of “problem placentas” with her work on the hormone metastin, now called kisspeptin, and is currently completing a paper for publication and her MD thesis. 
Dr Catharine Dhaliwal is now completing her studies of retinopathy of prematurity, an eye disease which affects premature babies and can lead to blindness.  Catharine has published three papers in paediatric and ophthalmology journals, which are read worldwide and will help to influence and improve the care of vulnerable newborns.
Clinical Research Fellow Hannah Shore’s work looked at postnatal oxygen and its role in brain damage, and has completed her main study and is now writing her thesis and papers for medical journals. Interesting results hint that too much oxygen may have a role in the brain damage we are seeing in survivors of preterm birth. A medical student worked with her on an imaging-based project that assessed blood vessels within the brain. This study has shown that oxygen does affect blood vessel growth. Hannah has presented acclaimed papers at the European Society of Paediatric Research in Prague in 2007 and in Nice in 2008.
Dr Sarah Stock looked at the role of infection and premature labour, and why infection affects some pregnancies and not others.  She was invited to deliver the highly prestigious Blair Bell Memorial Lecture at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and has been appointed to a Clinical Lectureship in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the Edinburgh University College of Medicine.  She retains her association with the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory and is looking at involving some second year medical students in her work. 

The Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory has also been able to appoint a research technician and a research midwife to support the work of our doctors and scientists. The research midwife role provides a vital service in supporting mothers with new babies when they volunteer to help with research.  We have also been able to fund five student attachments, with all the students writing up their projects for publication and we now offer grants to students to complement the McKern scholarships which link the laboratory with similar ones at Yale and Sydney.

Current Research

Pregnancy Research

Our pregnancy research team, led by Professor Andrew Calder, are expanding their work to try to find out what causes preterm labour and what treatments can be developed to stop it, and what causes pre-eclampsia.  

Our research continues into kisspeptin, which has recently been shown to control the onset of puberty, and our researcher Thaya Ramaesh is now building on the work begun by Dr Anne Armstrong and looking at the role of kisspeptin in blood vessel formation, which is likely to prove important for a healthy placenta.  The potential here is particularly exciting: if a simple pregnancy screening test can be developed testing levels of kisspeptin it could identify mothers and babies at risk of pre-eclampsia, and detect problems early enough to allow a safe delivery for both mother and baby.

We have also made important advances in understanding how the protein prokineticin is involved in starting labour, and plays a crucial role in regulating blood vessel function in the placenta.  Our Postdoctoral Scientist Dr David Maldonado-Perez is now joined by our new Clinical Research Fellow Dr Ellie Golightly who will undertake an exciting new project, building on the work begun by Dr Sarah Stock, which has implications for both premature labour and dysfunctional labour leading to the need for caesarean section and post-partum haemorrhage.   In two new projects the team is also investigating the role of anti-inflammatory lipid mediators, involved in how an inflammatory process is ended. Lipid mediators are chemical messengers which respond to injury and are released to stimulate cells involved in the immune response, while others help “turn off” this response when it is no longer needed. For the first time our research has shown these chemicals are present in the uterus and play a part in labour; this is important new information which could be useful in preventing the contractions which are associated with preterm labour and the neonatal brain damage which often occurs as a consequence of intrauterine infection, inflammation and preterm labour.

Neonatal Research

The neonatal team led by Dr Ian Laing is focusing on the premature brain and how infection and oxygen may interact to cause damage, and our new Clinical Research Fellow, Dr Liz Pilley, who will work with Dr Julie-Clare Becher, has begun an in-depth study of antenatal infection and neonatal oxygen levels to see if there is a link between these factors which might cause damage to a premature baby’s developing brain.  Although the survival rates of babies born prematurely have improved the incidence of cerebral palsy is static, so increasing our understanding in this important area could have far reaching consequences for vulnerable babies and their parents.

Two new projects are also progressing, both of which involve studying the combined effects of inflammation and prematurity on the brain: one concentrating on the part of the brain which controls movement and the other focuses on the part of the brain which is dedicated to the intellect.  Dr Elizabeth Pilley, a highly talented young Paediatrician, has been appointed to the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory and is developing the first research project enthusiastically. A second clinical research fellow appointment has also been made and Elaine Woodrow will start in work February 2010.  Following on from previous studies of the effect of inflammation on the brain of the fetus, Elaine will be looking at infection in the womb and if it has adverse effects on the intellectual capabilities of the fetus and newborn babies.

Premature labour can be caused by infection in the mother or baby. There is evidence that the infection itself can cause damage to the baby’s brain. The team in Edinburgh want to find out more about this process, and then move towards discovering how the damage might be prevented. 

“We are so grateful for the support of our ground-breaking work to save newborn babies.  Our vital research must continue in order to make breakthroughs to prevent new tragedies, here and all over the world.”

Professor Andrew Calder