# Longitudinal Characterization of Postnatal Brain Maturation after Fetal Zika Infection

> **NIH NIH F32** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2022 · $46,628

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The Brazilian Zika virus outbreak of 2016 initiated an international public health crisis when it became clear that
babies infected in utero were being born with devastating neurological defects. In addition, troubling reports have
shown that many infected babies present as “neurologically-normal” at birth but experience later atypical
developmental and neurosensory alterations into infancy. The long-term developmental consequences of Zika
infection are currently unknown, but mechanisms of its pathobiology have been linked to the preferential injury
of axons and myelin. Disrupted or delayed myelination in early life has been previously associated to significant
and permanent impairments across domains of sensory, motor, and cognitive abilities. To investigate the impact
of fetal Zika infection on postnatal brain development, this study will acquire quantitative magnetic resonance
imaging metrics of myelin and axon maturation in an established nonhuman primate model at 6, 12, 24, and 30
months of age (equivalent up to ~ age 10 in humans). This proposed work, therefore, takes a novel approach by
tracking whole brain changes in tissue microstructure, in vivo, in an accelerated model of brain development and
links those changes to cellular anatomy, post mortem. Behavioral outcomes related to axon and myelin injury
will also be investigated. The aims of this proposal have been designed for direct translation to human studies
and will establish a valuable resource for predicting and interpreting outcomes of fetal Zika infection.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10458683
- **Project number:** 5F32HD103313-03
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Erika Pratt Raven
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $46,628
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2023-03-19

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10458683

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10458683, Longitudinal Characterization of Postnatal Brain Maturation after Fetal Zika Infection (5F32HD103313-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10458683. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*