A group of scientists from the University of the Basque Country and Cruces Hospital, in Bizkaia, have received the Ordesa Prize for Neonatal Research for developing an experimental model which assesses and quantifies the cerebral damage caused by lack of oxygen and blood during gestation.

The importance of the project, entitled "An experimental model of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy", lies in that it is centred on a condition which is "one of the main causes of neurological mortality in both premature and newborn infants". It is calculated that between two and four per thousand newborns suffer from some degree of perinatal asphyxia, which can engender conditions ranging from cerebral paralysis to other minor neuro-developmental disabilities that affect motor function and areas of knowledge and behaviour.