Manon Ranger

I am conducting novel translational research to advance the health and care of children born preterm. To accomplish this, I am leading a research program to address the impact of early-life adversity such as stress, pain, inflammation, treatments and maternal separation, on the developing brain of very preterm infants. It is essential to determine the mechanisms underlying the effects of early-stress exposure, such as pain-related changes, and to test novel mitigating treatments in both animal models and in human infants. My research is therefore partly conducted in rodent models to gain basic knowledge to better inform clinical studies in preterm infants. It examines the interactions between the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems during the critical period of early-life development, to prevent changes to the brain, and thereby improve outcomes. Identifying brain-protective interventions with which to manage neonatal procedural pain is essential and is also a focus of my research. Keeping this in mind will assure that these animal findings will be translated into clinical practice. Indeed, in order to improve clinical care of preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), much more research is needed to examine long-term effects of neonatal early exposure to stressful events and treatments on brain development and later outcomes, particularly in those born very preterm; this work is necessary so that we can understand the etiology of neurodevelopmental problems which occur at high rates in these vulnerable children.