UAB lecturers and researchers receive funding from La Marató
The 2023 edition of the La Marató fundraiser was dedicated to research into sexual land reproductive health. Research projects that have received funding from the 2023 fundraiser include Diana Marre from the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology; Elisa Llurba from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology; and Òscar Vilarroya from the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine. A total of 26 projects from over 100 applications have received funding.
Diana Marre, director of the AFIN research group, alongside Elisa Llurba, lecturer and researcher at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau Research Institute Foundation, lead a study entitled "Tractament amb estatines per a la insuficiència placentària severa d’inici precoç: Assaig clínic randomitzat".
Statins are used to prevent cardiovascular disease. It has been suggested that they may help treat placental complications of pregnancy and prolong pregnancy, thereby preventing extreme prematurity and improving the long-term health of mother and baby. The study aims to examine the administration of a type of statin, pravastatin, in mothers suffering from these complications. It also seeks to examine whether this intervention during pregnancy protects the cardiovascular system.
From an anthropological perspective, the study will delve into the needs and expectations of women who face these complications during pregnancy and in the postpartum period, so that their stories can serve as a guide to achieve answers and solutions that are as personalised as possible to the real needs of the families.
This is the only project in the 2023 edition of the La Marató fundraiser with the participation of a social science team. The study, endowed with €396,000, also involves staff from the Hospital Clínic Foundation for Biomedical Research and the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital Research Institute Foundation.
Research director Òscar Vilarroya, linked to the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute Foundation, will lead one of the ten unitary projects selected, entitled "Short- and Long-term Effects of Steroid Sulfation During Pregnancy on Brain Plasticity, Maternal Well-being, and the Mother-Child Bond" and endowed with €200,000.
Vilarroya and his team will analyse the influence on the brain and mental health of mothers during pregnancy of hormonal fluctuations occuring during this period, and the role of steroid metabolism and sulfation, a mechanism that regulates the biological activity of many hormones and neurotransmitters.
The research team will study how it affects maternal well-being and mother-child bonding through data from MRI, urine, saliva and mental health assessments of a cohort of nearly 500 women who have been followed for more than 15 years, from pre-pregnancy through the postpartum period. The information obtained will be compared with women who have not been mothers.
Vicente Bebia and Eva Colás, clinical associates of the Department of Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health; and Vicente Peg and Aintzane Urbizu, occupational medical associate and clinical associate, respectively, of the Department of Morphological Sciences, also received funding.
The 2023 edition of La Marató raised a total of €8.2M, which has served to fund 26 research projects (10 unitary and 16 coordinated) led by 52 teams.