PARENT

Preterm birth exponentially increases the risk of impaired neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood and adolescence: many surviving children face permanent disability. Although advances in neonatal intensive care have improved survival even at extremely low gestational ages, no further significant improvements in long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes have been observed—an impact that weighs heavily on families and society. Early diagnosis of brain damage or immaturity is therefore crucial for optimizing developmental monitoring and treatment decisions. PARENT addresses this need with an open software infrastructure that brings together clinical research, industry, and pediatric hospitals to transform this data into more timely diagnoses.

Objectives

• Develop innovative early-diagnosis methodologies for motor and cognitive disorders in newborns
• Build a cross-sectoral network among European research groups, industry partners, pediatric hospitals, and associations
• Train 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) within a European Training Network