University of Cape Town (UCT) paediatric neurosurgeon Professor Anthony Figaji was recently awarded the Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship, and his revolutionary research is set to change the treatment and understanding of childhood brain injury in children around the world.
Figaji and his research group, African Brain Child (ABC), based at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital (RCWMCH) and UCT’s Neuroscience Institute (NI), are striving to decode the physiology and improve treatment of brain injury in children.
TBIs in children
Children are especially vulnerable to traumatic brain injury (TBI), which is the leading cause of death and disability from injury around the world.
Figaji’s research explores how the brain responds to injury in real-time, what biological mechanisms contribute to recovery or further damage, and what treatment options are most effective.
Figaji seeks to understand how medications penetrate the brain, which, unlike other organs, is protected by physiological barriers that make drug delivery notoriously difficult.
Improving patient outcomes
Figaji’s project draws on a world-leading dataset, the largest of its kind, built over several years at RCWMCH.
Using continuous monitoring of children with various forms of brain injury has enabled him to collect complex physiological and biochemical data directly from the brain.
In analysing this data, he will focus on brain physiology, metabolism and inflammation, drug activity in the brain, and building research capacity in South Africa.
By examining the brain’s chemistry, oxygenation levels, inflammation markers and real-time drug concentrations, the project aims to prevent ‘secondary brain injury’ – the damaging cascade of events that unfolds after the initial trauma.
“We’ve developed techniques to repeatedly sample both total and active drug levels directly from the brain,” said Figaji.
“This will let us better predict what works, where and how – in a way that’s never been done before.”
The fellowship will enable Figaji’s ABC team to collaborate with specialists in complex systems and data science to process the immense volume of information collected – millions of datapoints per patient.
The findings will contribute to new diagnostic and predictive tools to improve patient outcomes, with possible implications for a wide range of brain diseases.
“This research has the potential to transform how we understand and treat brain injury – not just in Africa, but globally,” Figaji added.
Priya Soma-Pillay and Andre van Niekerk 7 May 2024 Touching lives
The ABC group’s efforts extend beyond the lab and the operating theatre.
For the last few years, the team has been creating public awareness about the particular risk that TBI poses to children's brains with the Be Quick to Click campaign.
In October 2024, this campaign evolved into a carseat collection and donation drive and event, in partnership with WheelWell and SupaQuick.
With an estimated 55 million people worldwide living with TBI-related disability, the burden is staggering – particularly for children, whose brain injuries can have lifelong consequences.
“When a child suffers a brain injury, the effects often extend into adulthood – impacting education, behaviour, employment, financial stability and even increasing risks of criminal involvement,” said Figaji.
“Understanding the brain’s response is critical if we’re to change these trajectories.”
Figaji said this research has the potential for widespread continental and global impact, and can also touch one life in a deeply profound and lasting capacity.
He said it is certainly worth investing in.
