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8 Headlines W hen Max started as a junior doctor, it was unimaginable that a baby born at 24 weeks would survive. Now, while life remains precarious, advances in medical technology have made it possible for good outcomes from extremely premature births. “We’ve made some phenomenal progress in keeping even the smallest preterm babies alive,” says Max, who has been funded by the Neurological Foundation to work on a therapy to protect brain development in premature babies. Max splits her time between Wellington Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit and the University of Otago, Wellington where she lectures in paediatrics and leads clinical and translational research. “The survival rates for extremely premature babies are improving, which is great. However the more premature the birth, the greater the risk of life- long neurological problems such as learning difficulties, cerebral palsy and many other challenges,” Max says. Because of their underdeveloped organs, the immediate critical challenges for these babies are breathing problems and making sure that the heart is working well. “We've got a better handle on the heart and lung because they're more immediately accessible. But then you have that poor little brain that's supposed to be cocooned by a wealth of support the placenta and mum provides, and suddenly that’s taken away and you only have what we can provide as medical team.” Max hopes the therapy she is working on, a type of hormone replacement called ganaxolone (GNX), could support the brain’s optimal development. Medical breakthroughs for little miracles Associate Professor Max Berry, a neonatologist who has cared for hundreds of premature babies, is working on a new treatment to mimic some of the hormones a premature baby’s brain misses out on.