Neonatal inflammation and multi-organ dysfunction

Medical and Research Team

Prof Eleanor Molloy, Dr Eman Isweisi, Dr Aoife Branagan, Dr Gergana Semova, Dr Lynne Kelly, Dr Johana Isaza-Correa.

Paediatric Biobank

Professor Eleanor Molloy’s research group in Trinity College currently runs a biobank held on St James’ Campus in association with the three Maternity hospitals and Children’s hospitals in Dublin. The Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, The Rotunda and The National Maternity Hospital, Holles St and Children’s Hospital Ireland in Crumlin, Temple St and Tallaght are collaborating with our research group to provide samples for biobanking in relation to the following cohorts of patients;
Neonatal Encephalopathy, Preterm Birth, Down Syndrome Children, Traumatic Brain Injury, MISC and Control Term infants.

We collect blood samples from these patients and their clinical data for research purposes. Theses samples are stored for use in many research programmes investigating the role of inflammation in infants. Our biobank now has over 1000 samples spanning two decades of research. The following are some of the research programmes included in our paediatric biobank and links available for further reading on our Trinity Webpage.

The purpose of this biobank is to collect samples from affected preterm and term infants, school-age children and control groups to establish a repository of samples that we can use in further studies to help us better understand the course of inflammation and development in infants and children. Serum is extracted from whole blood and stored in the biobank. Using Meso-Scale Technology we can identify multiple proteins in minute quantities of serum and use this information to develop new adjunctive therapies for neonatal brain injury and preterm development. Scientists can also use the whole blood to extract RNA and immune cells to analyse the gene expression of these infants and identify their immune-cell phenotypes, respectively, with a view to understanding the pathways of inflammation better.

Scientific Lead

Professor Eleanor Molloy