Cooper Trewin Brighter Days Neuroimaging Study

by | Jan 30, 2015 | Research

To date the Cooper Trewin Memorial SUDC Research Fund has fundraised over $320,000 and is excited to announce funding the Cooper Trewin Brighter Days Neuroimaging Study for the next two years, being conducted out of the Kinney Lab, Boston Children’s Hospital.

We are honoured that the study has been named after Cooper and also we have been able to incorporate “Brighter Days” which is an annual festival held in Bright, Regional Victoria, Australia by the Brighter Days Foundation that has raised funds for both the Cooper Trewin Memorial SUDC Research Fund & DEBRA (Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association).

Cooper Trewin Brighter Days Neuroimaging Study Overview

  • Malformation of the hippocampus in the brain is reported in a subset of SUDC cases.
  • Connected to brainstem regions involved in autonomic functions, involved in generation of seizures.
  • In many cases malformations can only currently be detected in brain tissues after death has occurred.
  • Study aims to develop a biomarker of subtle hippocampal maldevelopment in asymptomatic toddlers at risk for sudden unexpected death with novel state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques that have the potential to reveal the structure of the hippocampus at the level of the light microscope.
  • Importantly, the proposed novel structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques and state-of-the-art diffusion tractography will provide a deeper understanding of the biologic basis of hippocampal maldevelopment that is essential for developing pharmacological and other clinical interventions in the future.

Key Personnel

  • Hannah C. Kinney, MD, Principal Investigator, Professor of Pathology, Assistant Director of SUDP Program, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
  • Richard G. Goldstein, MD, Co-Principal Investigator, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Director of SUDP Program, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
  • Annapurna Poduri, MD, Co-Investigator, Assistant Professor of Neurology, specialization in childhood epilepsy, its genetics, and the connection between SUDC and febrile seizures.
  • Sanjay Prabhu, MD, Assistant Professor of Radiology (Neuroradiology), Department of Radiology, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
  • Dr. Simon Warfield, Thorne Griscom Chair and Professor of Radiology, Director of Radiology Research, Director Computational Radiology Laboratory, Department of Radiology, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

Download the media release