Seminar: Why Do Babies Get Sick? A Systems Biology Approach to Developing Diagnostics and Therapeutics for Neonatal Sepsis.

Abstract: Every minute, ~5 newborn babies die somewhere in the world. Many of these deaths are caused by neonatal sepsis, which is a systemic inflammatory response to infections. While all newborns and young babies are more vulnerable to severe infections than all other age groups, the risk of dying from sepsis in young infants is significantly higher in certain parts of the world due to major health inequities. Based on current estimates, population-rates of sepsis are up to 50-times greater in young infants born in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) compared to high-income countries like Canada. Determining the etiology of neonatal sepsis cases is important to develop effective public health interventions and guidelines for empiric antibiotic use in acutely ill infants. However, we lack the means to discern infants with antibiotic treatable sepsis from those with other forms (e.g., viral sepsis). In this talk, I will illustrate how our group applies systems biology approaches and machine learning to understand why newborns are highly susceptible to infections, and use this knowledge to develop potential diagnostics and therapeutics.