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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 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 newborn 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 adverse effects of inflammation and oxygen use Dr Laing and Dr Becher are leading a team studying the effects of inflammatory proteins, low birth weight and the use of oxygen 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.

Sara Rinaldi is a PhD student, currently in the 2nd year of her project, continuing the work of Dr Ellie Golightly and Dr David Maldonado-Perez. The focus of Sara’s research is to determine whether the use of anti-inflammatory agents, such as the lipid mediators, lipoxins, can delay preterm delivery and improve neonatal outcome and to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying their action. Sara has recently written a review paper discussing the potential of anti-inflammatory agents as novel treatments for preterm labour which has just been accepted for publication in the journal Expert Reviews in Clinical Immunology.

Neonatal Research

The neonatal team led by Dr Ian Laing and Dr Julie-Clare Becher is focusing on the premature brain and how infection, poor growth and oxygen may interact to cause damage.

Dr Elizabeth Pilley, a Paediatrician, is working with Dr Julie-Clare Becher, on 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. These studies have shown some interesting results thus far and Dr Pilley has presented her work at the European Society of Paediatric Research in Copenhagen in October 2010 and at the Neonatal Society Meeting in November 2010 where she awarded ‘Best Presentation by a Trainee’.

Dr Elaine Woodrow has joined the Neonatal Team and is studying the interaction of poor neonatal growth and oxygen use in premature infants. Dr Woodrow’s work focuses mainly on the developing grey matter of a preterm infants brain. Grey matter forms the outer layer of our brain and is crucial for our intelligence, emotions and understanding of language and the world around us. We know that premature babies often have problems with academic achievement, hyperactive behaviours as well as language and vision difficulties. Dr Woodrow aims to define ways to optimise brain growth and development whilst caring for and supporting the overall maturation and growth of fragile premature babies within the Neonatal Unit. Dr Woodrow will present her work at the European Society of Paediatric Research this October.

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.

Previous research projects

Eight Research Fellows have completed their research, six of whom are clinicians and have returned to their clinical work. These clinicians are from a varied clinical background including obstetrics, paediatrics and pathology, widening the breadth of experience within the Jennifer Brown Laboratory. Three of the previous post holders are scientists, with a wealth of scientific expertise to complement that of the clinicians. All previous post holders continue to report and present their studies, publishing papers in medical journals and attending specialist conferences. Obstetricians Dr Anne Armstrong and Dr Sarah Stock have now returned to clinical work. Dr Stock has been appointed to a Clinical Lectureship in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the Edinburgh University College of Medicine and maintains a close link with the laboratory. Dr Stock’s research interests involve 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 recently won a prize in the inaugural ‘Edinburgh BioQuarter Innovation Competition’. Dr Anne Armstrong and Dr Thaya Rajesh have both completed work on the hormone kisspeptin. They have shown that this hormone may have a role in predicting “problem placentas”, which are associated with pre-eclampsia.

Dr Catharine Dhaliwal has completed her studies of retinopathy of prematurity, an eye disease which affects premature babies and can lead to blindness. Catharine has published four papers in paediatric and ophthalmology journals, which are read worldwide and will help to influence and improve the visual outcome of vulnerable newborns. This is important work, as the leading cause of blindness in the developed world is prematurity. Neonatologist Dr Hannah Shore’s MD studies looked at postnatal oxygen and its role in brain damage. Interesting results indicate 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 presented acclaimed papers at the European Society of Paediatric Research in Prague in 2007 and in Nice in 2008.

Dr Ellie Golightly and Dr David Maldonado-Perez have recently completed work on lipid mediators, examining their possible aberrant role in mothers who labour prematurely. 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 that 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. David’s work has been published in the Journal of the FASEB (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology).

Dr Marta Gorowiec studied a similar area, concentrating on prokineticin, a protein which is expressed in the placenta and fetal membranes of labouring women. Dr Goroweic showed that this protein is also stimulated in inflammation and that its expression may be involved in the initiation of a premature inflammatory response during infection. This work has recently been published in the American Journal of Pathology.
In addition to scientific and clinical researchers, the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory has also appointed 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.

Find out more detail on past or current research projects

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