Professor James Boardman is the Scientific Director of the University’s Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory in the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health.

My research goal is to identify ways to protect the developing brain in fetuses during pregnancy and babies born preterm — that is, born before 32 weeks.

Our work involves researching the role of neonatal quantitative Magnetic Resonance imaging (MR) to investigate the biological and/or environmental conditions that lead to differences in brain development. We also use MR imaging to study the factors that confer risk or resilience to injury after pregnancy related complications, for instance premature birth, poor fetal growth or infection in the womb. Finally, we examine the relationship between quantitative MR features and long-term functional outcome — how well children go on to learn and develop.

To this end, at the Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh we study a cohort of preterm infants who are all born under 32 weeks. We will follow them throughout their childhood and adolescence to determine any cognitive impairment such as learning and behavioural difficulties.

Email: james.boardman@ed.ac.uk