Oxidative stress during fetal development, delivery, or early postnatal life is a major cause of neuropathology, as both too little oxygen (hypoxia) and too much oxygen (hyperoxia) can significantly injure the developing brain. To help reduce prematurity-related brain injury, our group is collaborating with neonatologists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Boston Children’s Hospital to determine antecedents of neural injury in the neonate, including hypo- and hyperoxia. To that end, we are collecting bedside monitoring data from newborns in neonatal critical care. Our database currently contains over 5,000 patient records and continues to grow. This superUROP project will focus on investigating oxygenation patterns in preterm infants and relating such patterns to neurological outcome measures.

I took a few classes that had a focus on signal processing. The basics I learned from the classes will help me applying it to practice use and gain more insights in the SuperUROP. In addition, my previous UROP on noninvasive brain signal detection and stimulation helped me learn about how to see the big picture, work in a team and work productively, which will benefit me for the SuperUROP.