LAUSR

Therapeutic hypothermia for neonatal encephalopathy (NE) has successfully translated to standard care, confirming the fundamental validity of extensive preclinical research across multiple species and settings. The challenge now is to further improve neuroprotection, so that more babies survive NE without disability. Current protocols for therapeutic hypothermia appear to be near-optimal, so the obvious solution is to add other neuroprotective agents to hypothermia. Logically, we should follow the example of the development of anticancer drugs and systematically test different combinations in a stepwise fashion, starting with agents that are already clinically approved for other indications.