Under a new grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Barrow Neurological Institute and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) are studying the role of extracellular RNA (exRNA) as biomarkers in hemorrhagic brain injuries.
The study is being funded by a $4 million grant that is part of an international effort to determine the roles of exRNA in multiple biological processes.
The Phoenix Children’s group will focus on the evaluation of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in newborns, a form of bleeding in the brain that affects approximately 12,000 premature babies in the U.S. every year. Perinatal IVH is commonly associated with the development of cerebral palsy and hydrocephalous. It’s unclear, however, how hydrocephalous develops and how IVH impacts the potential for developing cerebral palsy.
This study is aimed to identify the modulating effects of exRNA on these processes and if so, to develop a testing mechanism to help clinicians identify children who are at increased risk. The development of a prognostic tool would guide doctors to more effective and less invasive treatments.
Investigators at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital are evaluating a similar model in adults. They are evaluating the role of exRNA in the development of vasospasm following hemorrhagic stroke.
For a video explanation of exRNA, check out this video.
