Dr Sukhvir Wright from Aston University Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment (IHN) and honorary consultant neurologist at Birmingham Children’s Hospital (BCH), has been awarded a £3.4 million career development grant from Wellcome to test for autoimmune encephalitis (AE), an inflammatory disease. brain disease in children.
Every minute, someone in the world is diagnosed with encephalitis, which can be caused by an infection or have an autoimmune cause, in which the body’s immune system begins to attack the brain. AE accounts for about a third of cases, with patients suffering from seizures, cognitive and sleep dysfunction, and movement disorders. Although healthcare professionals are increasingly able to recognize and treat AEs earlier, long-term outcomes unfortunately remain poor, particularly in children under five years of age.
Some symptoms of the disease, such as seizures, may go away, but others, such as learning and memory problems, behavioral changes, and sleep problems, may become chronic. It is not well understood why some of these symptoms improve and others persist.
Dr. Wright conducted a world-first preliminary study in a group of children with EA at least 18 months after developing the disease, using magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain scans. She discovered distinct long-term changes in the structure and network of the brain and believes that these brain changes are responsible for the chronic symptoms of the disease.
During this career development fellowship, Dr. Wright will use laboratory models to characterize the mechanisms underlying chronic symptoms, examining underlying changes from individual brain cells to entire brain networks. She will also examine longitudinal changes in the brain network in children immediately after the acute attack of AE and up to eight years afterwards, using a new optically pumped magnetometer (OPM) MEG scanner.
The IHN is an ideal location for the research project as it is home to the UK’s only Wellcome Trust MEG pediatric research and clinical laboratory. The MAG4Health OPM MEG scanner which will be used by Dr Wright was installed in 2024 following an £800,000 Medical Research Council (MRC) equipment grant led by Dr Caroline Witton of Aston University in partnership with Birmingham Children’s Hospital (BCH). The Aston-BCH OPM MEG uses an adjustable cap with sensors placed over the patient’s head, which allows a certain degree of movement and is therefore more acceptable for children.
Combining data from laboratory models and human patients will allow Dr. Wright and his research team to identify common pathophysiological targets, mechanisms, and predictive biomarkers to reduce adverse effects of IE and improve outcomes at long term.
Dr Wright is part of the BCH neuroimmunology team, led by Professor Evangeline Wassmer, consultant pediatric neurologist. The AE research project will involve Professor Wassmer’s team, the BCH psychology department led by Dr Jo Horton, Professor Stefano Seri (neurophysiology) and Dr Laavanya Damodaran (liaison psychiatry).
Children and families with lived experience of EA will be directly involved in all aspects of the research to ensure it answers the questions they care about, including the family of one of the first EA patients ever treated by the BCH neurology team. This participation of patients and their families will be facilitated by the Epilepsy Research Institute’s Shape Network and Encephalitis International, two charities with which Dr Wright has close links.
Dr. Wright said:
« We hope that this project will transform outcomes and optimize brain health in pediatric autoimmune encephalitis and beyond by bringing a significant change in the understanding of the acute and long-term effects that autoimmune encephalitis has on the children and young people.
