The new Prem’IMPACT FHU, headed by Prof. Olivier Baud, was accredited on January 1, 2025 for a five-year period, enabling it to continue the work of the PREMA FHU and launch new initiatives. New clinical and research teams have joined it, boosting its capacity for innovation. Its collaborative project focuses on new innovations and improved knowledge to reduce the burden of premature birth, with perinatal inflammation as a common thread.
Le consortium
Prem’IMPACT consortium: clinical care network is depicted in blue, research units are in orange, transversal platforms or facilities are in pink, parental associations are in green, and industry partners are in light red. Asterisks indicate new partners compared to the previous FHU PREMA. Connecting lines thickness are related to density of ongoing collaborative projects
Objectives
The Prem impact consortium, the largest in France in the field of prematurity, will promote interdisciplinary research between researchers, clinicians, epidemiologists, parents and technology companies, with 6 main objectives:
- and enable effective integrated teaching with parents and professionals.
- validate innovative diagnostic and therapeutic tools to better prevent premature births and assess their consequences;
- decipher the mechanisms that explain premature parturition and vulnerability to perinatal inflammation;
- compare best clinical practices and accelerate clinical research to improve quality of care;
- assess the impact of preterm birth on mental health and maternal comorbidities;
- promote families at the forefront of perinatal care and research;
FHU Prem’IMPACT FIGHTING PREMATURITY
Perinatal inflammation is increasingly recognized as a major cause of preterm birth and short-term neonatal complications, as well as a risk factor for long-term morbidity. To improve overall outcomes for premature infants, better detection and prevention of perinatal inflammation are the main challenges addressed by the Prem’impact FHU, through 5 interconnected working groups
- 1. Innovative diagnostic and therapeutic technologies (leaders: Valérie Biran and Vassilis Tsatsaris)
- Identification and validation of biomarkers of prematurity
- Early detection of neurosensory disorders using neonatal imaging.
- 2. Basic and translational research (responsables : Céline Méhats, Gilles Kayem, Thomas Schmitz et Pierre Buffet)
- Identification of causal mechanisms leading to prematurity
- Maternal/paternal exposure and predisposition to inflammatory disorders during pregnancy and in premature infants
- Prevention of perinatal infections
- 3. Innovation in the federation of clinical trial data for effective care (responsables : Jennifer Zeitlin et Olivier Baud)
- Creation of a data infrastructure integrating current clinical and research study data to improve perinatal care and the health of premature infants
- Innovative clinical trial on postnatal steroids to improve neonatal health
- 4. Care for parents of premature infants (responsables : Catherine Deneux et Jacqueline Wendland)
- Prevention of parental psychopathology associated with prematurity
- Refinement of developmental care for very premature infants
- Prevention of maternal somatic complications
- 5. Training, mentoring and dissemination activities (responsables : Héloïse Torchin et Laurent Mandelbrot)
- Improving perinatal care through parent training
- Improving evidence-based training and professional practices
- Disseminating Prem’IMPACT FHU activities