Newsroom

Could a simple blood test improve care for preterm infants in low income countries?


February 23, 2017


Preterm birth is one of the leading causes of death and illness in newborns around the world. Specialized care can improve the health of preterm infants, but in countries without access to prenatal ultrasounds, it can be difficult to know if a child is born preterm. Drs. Kumanan Wilson, Steven Hawken and their colleagues have created an algorithm that can determine the gestational age of a child at birth, based on a heel prick blood sample. The algorithm combines birth weight, sex and the levels of three molecules that can be measured fairly easily in the blood. In a large cohort of Ontario infants, the algorithm was able to accurately determine true gestational age within two weeks in 66 percent of babies who were small for their gestational age, compared to 37 percent when relying on birth weight and sex alone. The team is currently evaluating the algorithm’s performance in infants born in Bangladesh, Zambia, The Philippines and China. This work was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and published in EBioMedicine,a new journal from The Lancet and Cell Press.

Authors: Kumanan Wilson, Steven Hawken, Malia SQ Murphy, Katherine M Atkinson, Beth K Potter, Ann Sprague, Mark Walker, Pranesh Chakraborty, Julian Little.

The Ottawa Hospital: Inspired by research. Driven by compassion


The Ottawa Hospital is one of Canada’s largest learning and research hospitals with over 1,100 beds, approximately 12,000 staff and an annual budget of over $1.2 billion. Our focus on research and learning helps us develop new and innovative ways to treat patients and improve care. As a multi-campus hospital, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, we deliver specialized care to the Eastern Ontario region, but our techniques and research discoveries are adopted around the world. We engage the community at all levels to support our vision for better patient care. See www.ohri.ca for more information about research at The Ottawa Hospital.

University of Ottawa: —A crossroads of cultures and ideas


The University of Ottawa is home to over 50,000 students, faculty and staff, who live, work and study in both French and English. Our campus is a crossroads of cultures and ideas, where bold minds come together to inspire game-changing ideas. We are one of Canada’s top 10 research universities—our professors and researchers explore new approaches to today’s challenges. One of a handful of Canadian universities ranked among the top 200 in the world, we attract exceptional thinkers and welcome diverse perspectives from across the globe. www.uottawa.ca

For further information, please contact


Jennifer Ganton
Director, Communications and Public Relations
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Office: 613-798-5555 x 73325
Cell: 613-614-5253
jganton@ohri.ca