# Systemic Mediators and Biomarkers of Injury in Preterm Infants with Intermittent Hypoxemia

> **NIH NIH K23** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2024 · $144,188

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
 This proposal describes a mentored training and research plan that will facilitate the development of Elie
Abu Jawdeh, M.D., Ph.D., to an independent clinical and translational investigator in neonatal respiratory control
and intermittent hypoxemia (IH). Dr. Abu Jawdeh will complement his current background as a neonatologist
and a clinical scientist to attain new knowledge in basic science methods and biomarker science. The goal of
learning basic science techniques and methods is imperative for Dr. Abu Jawdeh to make the leap into
understanding mechanisms of injury from IH and develop treatments in the future. He will achieve these goals
through structured mentorship, rigorous hands-on laboratory experiences, formal classwork, and skills training.
A team of mentors with an established track record in clinical, translational, and basic sciences will oversee Dr.
Abu Jawdeh’s development and progress to research independence.
 Despite significant progress in neonatal intensive care, preterm infants continue to suffer from significant
morbidities and neurodevelopmental impairment. The societal cost of prematurity is approximately 26 billion
dollars with the cost of care for an extremely preterm infant being 20 times that of a late preterm infant. Major
consequences of prematurity are apnea and lung disease that lead to repeated occurrences of IH; episodic drops
in blood oxygen saturation. These IH episodes, occurring up to hundreds of events/day, have a cumulative effect
on neonatal outcomes. While the evidence linking IH to impairments is mounting, the degree of IH associated
with injury and pathophysiological mechanisms for IH’s contribution to injury remain unclear. This knowledge
gap in the mechanistic understanding of IH creates a critical barrier to improving clinical outcomes. Our goal for
this proposal is to better understand mechanisms and biomarkers of injury from IH in order to discover and titrate
treatments in the future. Through both a prospective clinical cohort of preterm infants and in vitro cell culture
experiments, we will first test the hypothesis that IH increases systemic circulating ligands (bio-mediators) that
injure brain cells using in vitro cell culture system of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPC). Identifying bio-
mediators and pathways of cell death and injury from IH will help develop treatments that we will also explore in
vitro. Then, we will investigate a promising biomarker Neurofilament-L (NfL) for IH-related brain injury and
predictor of early neurological outcome. Identifying biomarkers of injury will allow prognostication of neonatal
outcomes and monitoring of IH treatment effectiveness and titration in the future. We have pilot data to support
both our Aims and hypotheses. This will be the first time such studies and mechanisms are investigated in
preterm infants with IH.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11228708
- **Project number:** 7K23HD109471-03
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Elie G Abu Jawdeh
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $144,188
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2023-07-12 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11228708

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11228708, Systemic Mediators and Biomarkers of Injury in Preterm Infants with Intermittent Hypoxemia (7K23HD109471-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11228708. Licensed CC0.

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