The Preeclampsia Research Unit was established to reduce the mortality and morbidity of preeclampsia in South Africa and globally. Over the past 12 years, together with local and leading international collaborators, we have built a world-renowned research unit which I lead at Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg Hospital
Our research unit has three main divisions. Firstly, it is home to the PReeclampsia Obstetric adVerse Event (PROVE) Biobank. Secondly, we run preeclampsia intervention trials to test novel therapeutics to prevent and treat preeclampsia. Thirdly, we promote evidence-based medicine by working with international organisations like the Cochrane Library and the World Health Organisation to update and publish important systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
The PROVE Biobank is the largest biobank of its kind globally. We include women with the most serious life-threatening complications of preeclampsia and control pregnancies. We collect demographics, medical information, symptom scores and outcome data for both the mother and child. Samples include maternal serum, saliva, cerebrospinal fluid, cord blood and placenta samples. Special investigations include cerebral autoregulation studies, magnetic resonance imaging of the maternal brain and heart, echocardiography, fetal ultrasound, ophthalmic artery Doppler studies, endothelial dysfunction and vascular resistance studies and detailed placental analysis. PROVE is home to a multitude of sub-studies which are led by Post-Doc, PhD and MMed students.
We are the only Research Unit that has run consecutive randomised controlled trials for the treatment of preeclampsia. We are arguably the world leaders in therapeutic preeclampsia intervention trials. We are currently running our third treatment trial to assess novel treatments to prolong preterm preeclampsia. We have recruited 294 women out of 500 for this trial, the largest in the world. We are running a preeclampsia prevention intervention trial at 4 sites across South Africa where we are aiming to recruit 1800 women at high risk of developing preeclampsia. We are also running first in pregnancy trial assessing new treatments for preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction. If any of these therapeutics work, it could change how preeclampsia is managed globally.
