We are pleased to announce that the project led by Prof Magnus Domellöf entitled Effects of early nutrition on brain development and cognitive/behavioral problems in children has received a grant of 4,8 million SEK from the Swedish Research Council for the period 2024-2027.
The project includes a series of randomized, controlled clinical trials aiming to determine whether nutritional interventions during different developmental periods improve later cognitive and behavioural test scores. Furthermore, it includes large cohort studies on term and preterm infants, as well as development of new assessment methods.
This grant allows the project to continue following on from a Swedish Research Council grant for the period 2020-2023.
- The randomized, controlled clinical trials are among other things investigating iron supplementation of healthy infants who are breastfed > 4 months (evaluated at 1-3 years), iodine supplementation of pregnant women (children evaluated at 3 years), hydrolysed cow’s milk formula given to healthy infants (evaluated at 1 year) and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation of preterm infants (evaluated at 2 years).
- Observational studies are based on the NorthPop birth cohort as well as cohorts of preterm infants (e.g. the EXPRESS studies).
- Method development include functional near-infrared spectroscopy and neurofilament light as predictors of neurodevelopment.
“This grant is extremely valuable for us since it shows that our research is highly competitive at the national level, while it also ensures that our team can continue working on this project for the next 4 years” said Prof Magnus Domellöf, principal investigator for the project.
