Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Accept all cookies Reject all non-essential cookies Find out more

INTERGROWTH-21st team receives grant to improve infant health and development

Global Health Maternal & Fetal Health Research

A global research project that aims to improve the health, nutritional status and development of preterm infants has been awarded a $2.8 million grant from the Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation (FLRF).

Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation representatives meet the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Louise Richardson and members of the INTERGROWTH-21st Project, Professor Jose Villar and Professor Stephen Kennedy. © Ian Wallman / IWPhotographic

The Swiss based foundation promotes research in human milk and lactation, and formed the new partnership with the University of Oxford by supporting the work of the INTERGROWTH-21st Project.

The FLRF partnership is aimed at improving the overall health, nutritional status and development of high-risk infants, as well as training the next generation of neonatologists and paediatricians in evidence-based feeding and monitoring practices for preterm infants.

The partnership has three main objectives: 1) to establish an online community of health professionals to apply the INTERGROWTH-21st Project’s feeding protocol and international Preterm Postnatal Growth Standards (PPGS) for monitoring growth; 2) the implementation of the feeding protocol and PPGS into selected, influential neonatal units around the world, and 3) to gain high-level health policy support for implementing the feeding protocol and PPGS.

Professor Stephen Kennedy, co-leader of the project, explained: “We are very proud of this project because PPGS are the first postnatal growth standards for preterm infants and are valid for use in all populations around the world. Global adoption of these standards is a vital tool for promoting breastfeeding in neonatal units and infant clinics around the world so as to improve the survival and health of preterm infants.”

Michael Larsson, Chairman of the Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation, said: “Children should have the best possible nutritional start in life. This is even more important for preterm infants with their special needs and heightened risks.

“Our foundation is dedicated to promoting projects which focus on increasing research-based evidence on human milk and to ensure it is considered a matter of course worldwide. Therefore, we are delighted to partner with the University of Oxford by supporting the INTERGROWTH-21st Consortium in their implementation efforts.”

Led by Professors Stephen Kennedy and José Villar, INTERGROWTH-21st is one of the largest collaborative projects to-date in the field of maternal and perinatal health research, involving more than 300 doctors, scientists and healthcare workers from 27 institutions in 18 countries worldwide.

The project has developed a package of clinical tools to standardise how the growth, nutritional status and neurodevelopment of preterm infants are assessed and monitored, to enhance human milk feeding for preterm infants, avoid overfeeding, reduce the risk of childhood overweight and obesity, and improve early detection of infants with sub-optimal growth.

Professor José Villar said: “We are delighted to receive the generous donation from the Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation and are grateful for the opportunity, as part of this ground-breaking project, to improve the overall health, nutritional status and development of preterm infants.

“With the Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation’s support we will be able to implement the feeding protocol and PPGS for monitoring growth around the world and contribute to long-term improvements in the health of preterm infants.”

 

photo L-R: Professor Jose Villar, Janet Prince, Reto Larsson, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Louise Richardson, Michael Larsson, Katharina Lichtner, Professor Stephen Kennedy. Members of the IINTERGROWTH-21st Project and the Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation meet the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University.

Latest Tweets

Communications Team

Similar stories

New appointment at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Congratulations to Manu Vatish, Professor of Obstetrics & Consultant Obstetrician who has been appointed as the new Deputy Director for Maternal and Child Health Discovery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Maternal fat metabolism in pregnancy and fetal abdominal growth influence child weight

A new study, led by researchers at the Nuffield Department of Women's & Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, in collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley, USA, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology identifies, as early as the 5th month of pregnancy, patterns of fetal abdominal growth associated with maternal lipid metabolites that track newborn growth, adiposity and development into childhood.

New Professor of Obstetrics Title

Enormous well done to our new Professor Sally Collins - she was conferred the title of Professor of Obstetrics by the University's Medical Sciences Division Board.

INTERCOVID Study cited in the New Yorker

Fantastic news for our team who have been working on the INTERCOVID Study, which launched in April 2020. This week on 12th August 2022, the research findings cited in the New Yorker! This work was a combined effort from 43 institutions in 18 countries and involved more than two thousand pregnant women.

Women's Health Strategy for England Launched

The government has published the first ever Women's Health Strategy for England to tackle the gender health gap. Menopause, Endometriosis, Contraception and Fertility treatment are highlighted as some of the top issues women have asked for action on. The Nuffield Department of Women's & Reproductive Health welcome and fully support this bold and exciting strategy to help improve the health of millions of women in England.

Pregnancy is more likely with urine tests and timed intercourse

Dr Tatjana Gibbons leads study that suggests a woman's chance of conceiving is improved by using urine tests to detect the optimum time for intercourse, but further research is still needed to assess whether timed intercourse via any ovulation detection method creates a difference in live births and pregnancy rates.