Georg Schmölzer (left), has been chosen as one of six researchers in Canada for the prestigious Early Career Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Every year, 10 per cent of babies born worldwide are preterm and Alberta's rates remain one of the highest in Canada. Sadly, hundreds of thousands of newborns die shortly after birth despite resuscitation efforts.
UAlberta researcher and neonatologist Georg Schmölzer is working to address this issue by testing a new way of delivering chest compressions and rescue breaths for newborn infants. The technique results in fewer interruptions to compressions and ensures that more air is supplied to the baby's lungs than it would receive during current compression techniques.
Schmölzer has been chosen as one of six researchers in Canada for the prestigious Early Career Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Schmölzer, an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Care (NICU), was awarded $324,697 over three years for his program in circulatory and respiratory health. He joins U of A assistant professor Glen Jickling, in the Department of Medicine, Division of Neurology, who also receives an Early Career Investigator Award of $245,000 over three years for his research program in hypertension.
This CIHR funding will allow Schmölzer to test the method in several sites across Canada and the rest of the world.
"If our new technique shows that resuscitation time is reduced, it can be implemented in the updated resuscitation guidelines and used around the world by 2022," he said.
Ultimately, the new technique could reduce the number of deaths and long-term health problems in newborn babies that are born without a heartbeat.
Partnering with excellence
Georg Schmölzer is a New Investigator of the Heart and Stroke Foundation and holds the Heart and Stroke Foundation Professorship in Neonatal Resuscitation. His research is also funded by the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation through the Women and Children's Health Research Institute (WCHRI) and the Sick Kids Foundation.
Glen Jickling is a New Investigator and Barnett Scholar of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. His research is also funded by the University Hospital Foundation and the Canada Foundation for Innovation.
Above: Glen Jickling is a New Investigator and Barnett Scholar of the Heart and Stroke Foundation.