iPLACENTA: Innovation in modelling placenta for Maternal and Fetal Health
The principal research aim of iPLACENTA is to improve our ability to study, model and visualise the placenta. This will contribute to developing diagnostic tests and therapies for pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).
Placental defects are thought to be the cause of many major pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia and intra-uterine growth restriction. Preeclampsia affects between 5 and 8 out of every 100 pregnant women and claims the lives of 76,000 mothers and 500,000 babies annually. Intrauterine growth restriction affects 60,000 births across the EU per year. This is the most common factor for stillborn babies. Yet the low prediction rate means that it often leads to the pre-emptive induction of labour at a premature stage, when it could have been delayed. For the mothers and children that survive preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction, there are life-long serious cardiovascular and neurological consequences.
Training the next generation of translational scientists for Maternal and Fetal Health
iPLACENTA: Training the next generation of translational scientists for Maternal and Fetal Health
iPLACENTA is a doctoral-level European training network funded by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions). The action aims to support the career development of researchers – with a focus on innovation skills – through international, intersectoral mobility and collaboration. The 15 early-stage researchers in iPLACENTA are working with world-leading academics, clinicians and industry partners at 13 different institutions across the EU, combining the expertise of clinicians and basic scientists with that of mathematicians, physicists and engineers. Their training is designed to equip them with the right combination of research-related and transferable skills in order to face the current and future challenges in Maternal and Fetal Health and to best convert their knowledge and ideas into products and services with an economic and social benefit.