Researchers will analyze brain MRIs of children from Ibrahim Hyderi and Rehri Goth
AKU is conducting one of the first studies of how malnutrition, stress and other adversities affect the development of children’s brains in a low-resource setting. Early life adversities such as neglect, malnutrition and psychosocial and environmental stress prevent millions of children from reaching their potential. Neuroimaging studies from high-income countries show that these adversities can alter the developing brain. Yet few such studies have been done in low-income countries.
"There is a great need to replicate studies from high-income countries in low- and middle-income countries to obtain data for the developing world and to identify the potential risk factors as they exist here,” said Assistant Professor Sidra Kaleem Jafri, the study’s principal investigator.
A total of 250 mother-child pairs from the Ibrahim Hyderi and Rehri Goth areas of Karachi have been enrolled in the four-year study, which will see the children receive annual brain MRIs, starting as early as 1 month of age. The researchers will collect biological samples and bodily measurements from both the mothers and their children. They will also assess them using various behavioral, cognitive and developmental tools such as the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scale. Researchers will then seek to identify correlations between environmental influences, brain development and cognitive skills.
Researchers at Brown University in the United States will analyze the brain MRIs. Researchers at the University of Mannitoba in Canada Karachi will conduct breast milk analysis. The study will conclude in December 2026.