Pre-Term Birth Dialogues Report
The Pre-Term Birth Dialogues (PTBD) conference was held in Cape Town, South Africa on 27 - 29 January 2019 and was a great success. Forty delegates who hailed from a variety of professions, attended the congress at the up-scale Cape Milner Hotel and enjoyed exceptional views of Table Mountain. This was a network meeting funded by the Academy of Medical Sciences in the UK and the grant to facilitate the meeting was awarded to Professors Clive Gray and Dilly Anumba - an immunologist and an obstetrician specialist. At the heart of this meeting was to bring World renowned experts together to understand the spectrum of spontaneous Preterm Birth (PTB) and what causes such an adverse birth outcome. PTBD was a collaboration between the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of Sheffield and featured the NIHR funded Preterm Birth Prevention and Management (PRIME) group.
Clive Gray is a Professor and is currently the Chair and Head, Division of Immunology at UCT and Dilly Anumba is Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Sheffield and Director of the UK NIHR funded PRIME group. The meeting was organised with support from Nadia Ikumi, who is an AXA Research Fund sponsored postdoctoral fellow in the Gray lab, Division of Immunology, UCT. The main aim of the meeting was to create a network of investigators who perform research across the maternal-fetal ecosystem ranging from epidemiology, social science, genetics, immunology, metabolomics, microbiology, diagnostics, prognostics, biomarkers and guideline/policy development. Specifically, PTBD’s theme was addressing the challenges of meeting the sustainable development goals of maternal and child health by mitigating preterm birth in lower middle-income countries (LMICs). The conference was kicked off on Sunday by a keynote address by Glenda E. Gray, President of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), who spoke about the burden of disease and child mortality, highlighting the priority areas that the SAMRC is funding in the field of child and infant health.
Monday saw the theme of epidemiology and screening was supported by a talk by Professor Joy Lawn who spoke on the toll that preterm birth takes on the health services and championed further research. The afternoon session’s theme of immunobiology, infections and preterm birth was reinforced by keynote speaker Professor Marie-Louise Newell who addressed the impact of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy on pregnancies and birth and reported that commencing ARV prior or during gestation had no significant effect on placenta pathology. Monday’s final session on epidemiology and management had Dr Thoko Malaba speaking to the difficulties in assessing gestational age accurately in LMICs and Professor Priya Soma-Pillay reporting on preterm birth in South Africa. There were also many other eminent speakers as well as informative oral presentations from selected abstracts. The day was wrapped with a charming dinner where delegates, students and speakers could get to know each other and swap ideas and concerns.
The final day of PTBD began with PRIME research group and Preterm Birth International Collaborative (PREBIC) incorporated addresses by Dilly Anumba, Professor Nanbert Zhong, PREBIC President and others about the important research they are conducting in Africa and the UK on the alleviation of the risk of preterm birth. Plenary talks by members of the PRIME group focused on clinical trials in spontaneous preterm birth and stillbirths in LMICs and the need for funding and support was highlighted. The second session theme was stillbirth and pregnancy outcome with lectures from pathologist Professor Marta Cohen on explaining clinically unexplained stillbirths and obstetrician, Dr Atinuke Olaleye on the effect of malaria and malaria treatment on pregnancies. Afternoon saw the introduction of pregnancy outcomes and child health with paediatricians Professor Stephen Obaro and Dr Lloyd Tooke talking on infection and preterm births and the methods of measuring gestational ages in clinics. Many other speakers were featured with presentations from selected abstracts filling up the schedule. The day was then rounded off with 10 mins presentations from five PTBD participants and quick question and answers sessions.
Congratulations and Early Career Researcher presentations awards were given to participants with 1st place going to PRIME’s Dr Brenda Narice and Division of Immunology PhD student, Muchaneta Mugabe, 2nd place to SAMRC’s Dr Vundii Ramokolo and 3rd place to PRIME’s Dr Shumona Sharmin. The keynote speakers were also given gifts as a token of appreciation from co-hosts Clive Gray and Dilly Anumba.
PTBD was an informative and effective conference with medical professionals, scientists, epidemiologists and policy makers exchanging ideas and research in an effort to prevent preterm births and stillbirths worldwide.
Article by Bonamy Holtak