Neonatology Research

While Children’s is raising the standard of pediatric care for children today, we are pushing the boundaries of what is possible tomorrow through research. Our team conducts research both on our own and in collaboration with our academic partners, including the Emory University School of Medicine, which ranked No. 1 for research funding to a department of pediatrics from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2022. Through our academic and clinical research partnerships, we aim to improve outcomes for our critically ill neonates.

Our research areas of focus include:

• Quality improvement
• Infection prevention
• Peri-operative care
• Human milk
• Epidemiology
• Bioethics
• Neonatal clinical trials
• Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and intestinal rehabilitation
• Surgical techniques and advances

National collaborations

To align with our commitment to quality care, our team participates in the following national organizations:

• Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium (CHNC): Children’s is an active participant in the CHNC, which improves care for medically complex and high-risk infants by providing a platform to compare quality and outcomes measures from Level 4 NICUs across the U.S. and Canada. Children’s Neonatologist Anthony Piazza, MD, serves on the CHNC executive board and is a leader for their quality improvement initiatives.
• NICHD Neonatal Research Network: We are one of four sites to have maintained more than 30 years of continuous funding from the NICHD Neonatal Research Network. This network is a collaboration among NICUs across the country and has led studies to improve the treatment and health outcomes of critically ill babies.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is honored to be presenting at the 2023 CHNC conference, taking place Tuesday, Oct. 10, through Saturday, Oct. 13. We are committed to advancing care for neonates across the country. Physicians in our program conduct multiple studies on a national level, and we look forward to sharing some of our insights.

Connect with us at 2023 CHNC to talk about our research studies and our shared dedication to improving outcomes for critically ill infants.

Tuesday, October 10th

BPD Colloquium

• 3 to 3:20 p.m. | Shazia Bhombal, MD | Pulmonary Hypertension: Clinically Relevant Assessments and Definitions
• 3:20 to 3:40 p.m.| Erica McArthur, MD | Pulmonary Vein Stenosis in Severe BPD

Wednesday, October 11th

• 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. | Michelle-Marie Peña, MD | Workshop: Equity-Focused QI: How to Drive Change that Leads to Equitable Improvement
• 12:15 p.m. | Anthony Piazza, MD | CHNC & CIQI Updates
• 5:30 to 7:45 p.m. Poster Session
• Elizabeth Sewell, MD, MPH | Reducing Time to Initiation of Therapeutic Hypothermia in Inborn Infants with Moderate or Severe Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy
• Megan Stangeby, DO | Incidence and Degree of Growth Failure Among Infants With Gastroschisis: A Multicenter Study
• Barbara Hardin, RN | Implementing a Delirium Prevention and Management Best Practice Recommendation in a Quaternary NICU
• Kristin Limpose | Association of the Timing and Placement of Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt and Gastrostomy Tubes with Meningitis in Infants with Hydrocephalus: A Pilot Study

Thursday, October 12th

• 8 to 10 a.m. | Sarah Keene, MD | Workshop: Neonatal Veno-Venous ECMO: Lesson and Pearls for Simulation and Training
• 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. | Olivia Keane, MD | Comparison of Preoperative and Intraoperative Surgeon Diagnosis and Pathologic Findings in the Diagnosis of Spontaneous Intestinal Perforation vs Necrotizing Enterocolitis
• 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. | Elizabeth Sewell, MD | Interventions and Short-term Outcomes for Post-Hemorrhagic Hydrocephalus in Preterm Infants: A Multi-Center Cohort Study

Friday, October 13th

• 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. | Erica McArthur, MD | Pulmonary Vein Stenosis in BPD