How Do We Make Medicines Taken In Pregnancy, Safe? - Rebecca Bromley, University of Manchester and Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, UK
Podcast:
Peadiatric neuropsychiatrist & researcher Rebecca Bromley talks about the needs of families regarding positive research and international collaborations in regards to epilepsy medicine safety, aka pharmacovigilance.
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Rebecca intro
Pharmacovigilance - (medicine safety)
Sodium Valproate
Determining risk vs benefit of meds more quickly
What an improved pharmacovigilance world looks like
International research collaborations
Framework to monitor ASMs & polytherapy
Research results & long-term follow-up funding challenges
Obtaining funding - the long-term study challenge
Involvement contact details
Conclusion
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Rebecca Bromley is a Paediatric Neuropsychologist at the University of Manchester and Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. Her interests surround exposure to medications in the womb and the possible impact on later child cognitive, motor, and social development. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Liverpool, UK on the longer-term neurodevelopmental outcomes of children exposed to anti-seizure medications in the womb. Rebecca later moved to the University of Manchester where she completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. She stayed in Manchester to continue her work with Professor Jill Clayton-Smith, Consultant Clinical Geneticist, and later went on to develop a series of observational cohort studies aimed at further delineating the potential risks associated with in-utero exposure to medications, particularly the antiseizure medications. She is on the committee for the UK and Ireland Epilepsy and Pregnancy Register and is leading their neurodevelopment work. Rebecca is currently working with colleagues across Europe to improve the researching and reporting of medication exposed pregnancies. Her focus here is on improving the neurodevelopmental investigations within pregnancy pharmacovigilance and as part of this, she is leading the Neurodevelopmental Pharmacovigilance Research Group at the University of Manchester.
Rebecca has consulted on pregnancy pharmacovigilance topics for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and she collaborates with several different Expert by Experience Groups and UK epilepsy charities. Rebecca has published over 40 academic articles and spoken at a number of international conferences.
In the NHS Rebecca works as part of Complex Epilepsy Team at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and also the Manchester Rare Conditions Centre. She provides neuropsychological assessment around the diagnosis and intervention for children and young people with epilepsy, metabolic disorders, acquired brain injury, fetal valproate spectrum disorder, and other neurological conditions.
Research interests
Rebecca's research investigates the disruption of typical brain development when the fetus is exposed in the womb to certain prescribed medications. Over the last decade, she has conducted a number of large prospective longitudinal observational studies documenting the neurodevelopmental outcomes in children exposed in utero to antiepileptic drugs. One of these drugs - sodium valproate, was found to be associated with a substantially increased risk of poorer postnatal cognitive and social development.
As a collaborator on the Innovative Medicines Initiative funded ConcePTION Study (https://www.imi-conception.eu/) Rebecca and her collaborators are working on projects aimed to improve the investigation of longer-term child outcomes following medication exposure in the womb.
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Twitter: Rebecca
Email: rebecca.bromley@manchester.ac.uk
Publications: ResearchGate
Hospital: Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
The University of Manchester: Rebecca
ILAE: Rebecca
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Other episodes:
Helplines, email address, and website for Ukrainians seeking Anti-Seizure Medications.