FETAL i+D
The Fetal Medicine Research Center (Fetal i+D) is a multidisciplinary research center in fetal medicine linked to Hospital Clínic, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu and the University of Barcelona. Established and directed by Dr. Eduard Gratacós, Fetal i+D is recognized as one of the world's best research centers in the field. Among his major achievements in research, Dr. Gratacós and his team have demonstrated how fetal life conditions influence neurodevelopment and cardiovascular health, and have made improvements in diagnosis and treatment of diseases widely accepted and used by the international medical community in this field. Fetal i+D has a multidisciplinary team of over 70 researchers, combining specialists in fetal medicine, biologists, pharmacists, bio-engineers, epidemiologists, statisticians and its own management structure.
CEREBRA SUPPORT
Fetal i+D is extremely thankful to Cerebra for its continued support since 2005. The first research project, entitled “Evaluation of the brain perfusion/circulation in growth restricted fetuses and its association with the neurodevelopment after birth” was funded until 2007. From 2008-2013, Fetal i+D continued receiving Cerebra’s support for the project “A multidisciplinary research programme for the evaluation of diagnostic techniques and intervention measures for prenatal brain damage using growth restriction as a model”.
Cerebra’s support has allowed Fetal i+D achieving the aim of gathering a high critical mass and integrating different lines of research, to generate a superior output and significant scientific contributions. Fetal i+D is the only non-British group receiving an honorary appointment as Excellence Center in Research by Cerebra.
The research conducted during these years has allowed important advances in the current knowledge of prenatal conditions affecting neurodevelopment. Thanks to the intensive research on brain imaging, we have learned that in most children the problem is not brain injury, but brain reorganization. The challenge for the development of diagnostic techniques is even greater, but this knowledge has been critical to understand how we must design the research to find better and more precise biomarkers.
