Kula Leap

Kula Leap is a Wellcome Leap funded multiscale, multimodal study which will comprehensively characterise the development of executive functions over the first 1000 days of life.

Interacting in and with the world requires skills related to attention, memory and the integration of sensory perceptions with planning and executing activities and thoughts. During these early years, the brain alternately builds and prunes its developing networks in response to environmental influences. Our international and multidisciplinary team brings together expertise in global child health, executive functions, neurodevelopment, neuroimaging, nutrition, genomics, sleep and the microbiome to identify developmental patterns and windows for intervention.. We will collect data from two sites in Africa: one in Cape Town and one in Blantyre, Malawi.

The Liverpool International Child Neurodevelopment and Disabilities team will lead the project arm taking place in Blantyre, Malawi, along with Dr Emmie Mbale at the Blantyre Malaria Project, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences. 330 women will be recruited in pregnancy and their children followed up until 3 years of age for comprehensive assessment including MRI, EEG, parent-child interaction, sleep, parent-report questionnaires and neurodevelopment assessment. Professor Gladstone will lead on neurodevelopmental aspects of the study, including piloting of a new developmental indicator tool for global use, the Global Scales of Early Development (GSED), in partnership with the World Health Organization.

Members of the international research team visit the study site in Blantyre, May 2022

Professor Laurel Gabard-Durnham presents EEG training certificate to research nurse Grace Baloyi, May 2022

Participant taking part in an EEG assessment at their 3-month visit.