A GYNAECOLOGICAL research team at University College Cork (UCC) has been awarded €800,000 by the largest medical research charity in the UK to help develop a new blood test to identify women with high-risk pregnancies.
The Anu Research Centre at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at UCC is working with the Manchester Biomedical Research Centre in the UK to develop a simple blood test to predict mothers at risk of pre-eclampsia and other pregnancy complications.
The Cork part of the project is led by Dr Louise Kenny, senior lecturer in obstetrics and gynaecology at UCC, who said the grant from the Wellcome Trust would allow the team continue with its research on pregnant women attending Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH).
The Screening for Obstetric and Pregnancy Endpoint (SCOPE) programme involves looking at some 3,000 women attending CUMH to assess their risk of developing pre-eclampsia which can be potentially fatal for mothers and unborn babies.
“The award builds on our identification of indicators known as biomarkers in the blood of women in early pregnancy.
“We have used these biomarkers to predict the subsequent development of pregnancy complications, particularly pre-eclampsia,” said Dr Kenny. “We found the biomarkers by identifying particular metabolites in the blood – these are small molecules which are involved in normal growth, development and reproduction . . . and this award will enable UCC to establish a key role in taking this research forward.”
Dr Kenny said there were several stages to the research before the final step of turning a test for metabolites into a prototype blood test suitable for commercial use but she remained confident that it would prove of huge practical benefit in years to come.