Wednesday, 12 August 2009

The inaugural recipient of the WIRF BMedSc scholarship in honour of Professor Gordon King is undertaking research into pre-term birth at King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women.

Owen McWilliam will study the genetic variations in a cohort of 100 women who have pre-term pre-labour rupture of membranes, and their infants. He will then compare them with the genetic make-up of 100 matched women and infant controls who have a term birth.

It is part of a wider study by Associate Professor Craig Pennell of the School of Women’s and Infants’ Health .

Pre-labour rupture of membranes is one of three pathways to pre-term delivery. The other two are iatrogenic causes such as induction for medical reasons, and spontaneous pre-term labour.

“The reason we think there is a genetic component is that some of the risk factors for having a pre-term birth are having had a pre-term birth before, being born pre-term, or having a sister who had a pre-term birth,” Mr McWilliam said.

“We have postulated that the onset of labour is due to both fetal and maternal factors.”

Women are being recruited for the study now. If a woman has had a previous pre-term birth, the risk of a subsequent one is increased by 15-50 per cent. In Australia, 8.2 per cent of all live births are pre-term, a number that has risen from 7 per cent in 1994.

The increased rate is of concern because of the adverse health outcomes and the cost associated with pre-term births. The cost of raising a baby born before 37 weeks to the age of 18 years is an extra $50,000 and of a baby born extremely pre-term an extra $200,000.

The study will look at the DNA of both mother and infant, one of the few studies to do so.

As part of the study, data on pre-term births at KEMH between 2004 and 2008 will be analysed for information such as the mother’s ethnicity and the different factors in pre-labour rupture of membranes and spontaneous preterm labour. The findings will be compared with data in a study published in 1988 by Winthrop Professor John Newnham, Head of the School of Women’s and Infants’ Health.

Mr McWilliam, who is undertaking his Bachelor of Medical Science degree between his fifth and sixth years of the medical degree, said he was honoured to receive the scholarship.

“The money will go towards paying for my life,” he said with a laugh, adding that it would be used for rent and food as he lives away from home. “It will help me focus more of my time on the research. I have a job outside as well but I won’t have to have two or three jobs.”

He also finds time to fulfill his role as president of the WA Medical Students’ Society .

Tags

Channels
Alumni — Awards and Prizes — Research
Groups
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences