;){kind=logo}
River’s Gift have pledged a commitment to Assistant Professor Robin Haynes at Boston Children’s Hospital for 1.5 years starting in May of 2026 for $55,000 USD.
Additional project information
Project Title: “Epigenetic Modification of the Cerebellum in SIDS: Insights from a High‑Risk Population”
Project Summary:
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) remains one of the most heartbreaking and least understood causes of infant loss. One emerging idea is that early‑life stress may alter how a baby’s genes function — not by changing DNA, but by adding tiny chemical “tags” that influence whether genes switch on or off. These epigenetic changes often respond to stress, disadvantages, and environmental pressures.
This study uses advanced technology to search for these epigenetic marks in the infant brain, focusing on the cerebellum — a region involved in arousal, breathing recovery, and blood pressure control, all of which are thought to be disrupted in SIDS.
By comparing epigenetic patterns in babies who died from SIDS with those from matched controls, we aim to uncover whether maternal stress, socioeconomic adversity, or early‑life conditions leave biological signatures that increase vulnerability.
Project Objective:
Some infants who die from SIDS may have subtle differences in how their brain cells function — shaped by both genetics and the environment. This project examines a key brain pathway that helps babies recover when their oxygen levels drop during sleep, a reflex known as autoresuscitation.
Using cerebellar tissue from the Safe Passage Study brain bank, the team are analysing epigenetic patterns — the chemical switches that regulate gene activity — in a high‑risk population. The goal is to identify biological signatures that may reveal a hidden vulnerability in SIDS and guide future prevention and intervention efforts.
;){kind=logo}
River’s Gift are committed to funding world leading SIDS research on our home soil in Australia.
We have pledged our funding commitment to the research of Professor Leanne Dibbens at the Adelaide University (formerly the University of South Australia (UniSA)), in collaboration with Professor Robert Vink and Professor Roger Byard.
Having commenced in late 2023, our additional funding of $200,000 across 3 years will facilitate the expansion of the SIDS biobank and matched database of clinical information from children who have died from SIDS.
Additional project information
Project Title: “Genetic Investigation of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome – Finding the causes of SIDS”.
Project Summary:
Approximately 100 babies die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in Australia each year. The cause(s) of SIDS remain unknown, but there is evidence that genetic factors are involved. This study is designed to expand the UniSA’s SIDS Biobank containing biological samples from infants who have died from SIDS and from their biological parents. This is the first SIDS biobank in Australia and one of only a few in the world. The biobank will allow UniSA to carry out future studies to identify genetic variants that contribute to SIDS, with the aim of reducing or preventing the occurrence of SIDS. UniSA will undertake genetic analysis of samples in the biobank to investigate the underlying causes of SIDS. UniSA’s genetic analysis will involve sequencing the entire genome of a child that has passed away from SIDS and their parents to determine the underlying cause. By collecting and sequencing enough SIDS families, UniSA in partnership with River’s Gift can uncover the causes of SIDS which can lead to an early diagnosis of infants ‘at risk’ of this terrifying syndrome. With an ‘early diagnosis’ pre-emptive action and monitoring can be undertaken to reduce the risk of death in an ‘at risk’ infant.
Project Objective:The aim of this study is to expand UniSA’s resource of biological samples and matched database of clinical information from children who have died from SIDS, our SIDS biobank. The SIDS biobank will contain genetic material (genomic DNA) and matched clinical information from SIDS children and their biological family members. The SIDS biobank will be used to undertake genetic studies to identify genetic variants that contribute to SIDS, which will potentially lead to the development of targeted interventions to reduce the risk of death from SIDS.
River’s Gift is supporting this critical research project aimed at deepening our understanding of SIDS. If you, or someone close to you, has experienced the heartbreaking loss of a child to SIDS and are prepared to participate in this study, we invite you to connect with Marah in confidence at mwilson@riversgift.org or 0407 365 057.
Download our River’s Gift Biobank SIDS Research flyer
;)
River’s Gift funded the SIDS and sleep apnea laboratory investigate brain pathology of infants who died of SIDS.
In 2024, River’s Gift awarded $27,000 in research funding to Rita Machaalani, Associate Professor in the SIDS & Sleep Apnea Laboratory at the University of Sydney (USYD), to advance research into the brain pathology of infants who have died from SIDS, helping to deepen understanding of the biological mechanisms that may contribute to these tragic deaths.
Through strategic research investment, River’s Gift remains committed to uncovering answers and progressing toward our mission of Stamping Out SIDS.
Additional project information
Project Title: Brain morphology, brain immune cells, and Orexin in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Project Summary:
The SIDS & Sleep Apnea Laboratory at the University of Sydney (USYD) has identified that the brain of babies who died suddenly and unexpectedly, and who were classified as SIDS, have differences in the morphology of the hippocampus brain region, in the expression of brain immune cells identified by microglia and astrocytes, and lower orexin neurons, a neuropeptide involved in regulating sleep/wake cycles. These findings are only a quarter of the findings we have identified using a large dataset. How these findings all relate to each other, within each individual case, and across the diagnostic groups, is yet to be determined. This study aims to run correlation analyses on the orexin brain findings with the microglia and astrocytes and other markers including neurotransmitters of acetylcholine and its nicotinic receptors, and growth factors, as well as the morphological findings (amongst which, the brain vasculature seems to be contributing and will be quantified for the first time to provide this correlation). The findings will shed light as to how all these systems relate to each other and help direct future SIDS brain research pathways, of which many exist, yet none found to date, to be exclusive to SIDS.
Project Objective:
Determine the connection between our findings to date, with particular focus on apoptosis, Orexin, dentate morphology of bilamination, and altered microglia and astrocytes.
Specific
- Quantify the brain vasculature in all the tissue sections we have to date (>800 sections) and compare it between SIDS and non-SIDS and determine whether they correlate to any risk factor,
- Compile all the data into one excel file and run complex statistical analyses.
- Identify connections between all the findings in our datasets, interpret the data and devise precise future directions for SIDS brain research.
Three publications will be derived from this work and they will acknowledge River’s Gift as the soul providers of funding. The data will be important since they will shed light on the specific role of the immune cells of the brain (microglia and astrocytes) and how they relate to each other in the context of SIDS. The connection with the Orexin findings will be unique to determine effect vs causation, and will direct whether further study of orexin as a biomarker to identify at risk babies, is warranted.
