Our Programs in Newborn Care Lead the Way Nationally

New mother takes newbown baby from doctor after delivery.

Department of Pediatrics Annual Report – 2023

Neonatology and Perinatology

Banner graphic for the Department of Pediatrics Annual Report for 2023
Anna Penn, MD, PhD

Members of the Division of Neonatology and Perinatology are dedicated to the highest level of neonatal care and provide outstanding care for the sickest infants, including those with extreme prematurity or low birth weight, respiratory failure, congenital heart disease, and other complex congenital abnormalities that may require surgery. We have the only neonatology directed Infant Cardiac Care Unit in the country that partners with cardiology, cardiac surgery, and other intensivists to provide optimal care for newborns with complex congenital heart disease. New York State has designated our team at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital as a Regional Perinatal Center, the highest classification level. Our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is recognized as a Vermont Oxford Network (VON) Center of Excellence. We are internationally recognized for our pioneering use of noninvasive gentle ventilation techniques, our novel infant cardiac intensive care unit, and our multidisciplinary perinatal-neonatal palliative care program.

Research

The division has a long history of clinical and translational research that has had a substantial impact on the field. The strength of our clinical research evolved from studies demonstrating the beneficial respiratory outcome of early use of bubble continuous positive airway pressure (bubble CPAP) and gentle mechanical ventilation in premature infants and babies with pulmonary hypertension. This work received worldwide recognition and acceptance in current standards of practice in neonatal respiratory care. This history of excellence continues in the innovative work we are doing to change how we communicate with and empower families, how we manage infections, how we support the neurodevelopment and growth of infants, and, of course, how we continue to help babies breathe. In the laboratory, we continue to make new advances in brain development and injury, in immune cell development, and in preterm kidney damage.

In 2023:

  • Our multidisciplinary bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) team provided consistent screening and care for NICU babies and joined a national collaborative to track outcomes
  • Columbia's Neonatal Growth and Development (GraD) clinic had more than 550 visits for patient follow up after NICU discharge (doubling prior yearly visit numbers)
  • We screened hundreds of infants for cerebral palsy risk in the first year of life, allowing for earlier interventions
  • We collaborated with programs around the NYC region to establish the NYC Regional High-Risk Infant Follow-up (HRIF) Network
  • We developed new communication tools and guidelines to optimize outcomes at the edge of viability

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Honors and Awards

  • Pamela I. Good, MD
    • Awarded the 2023 Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Scholar Award for "Inflammation after Gentamicin-Induced Injury in Mouse Model of Human Premature Kidney"
  • Thomas Hays, MD, PhD
    • Won Top Abstract award at the 14th Annual Midatlantic Neonatology Associates neoForum 2023
  • Anna Penn, MD, PhD
    • Keynote speaker at the Newborn Brain Research Institute at the University of California San Francisco
  • Richard Polin, MD
    • Gave the Robert H. Usher lecture at Montreal Children’s Hospital and the Jill Gandy lecture in Cambridge
  • Sandhya Brachio, MD
    • Co-founded the NYC Regional HRIF Network; was appointed to the national SONPM NICU Follow Up workgroup; and is the Trainees and Early Career Neonatologists (TECaN) Quality Improvement (QI) co-lead organizing its QI Summer School

Major Grants

  • Novel Roles of Placental Allopregnanolone in Brain Development and Injury. NIH R01 5-year renewal of (R01HD092593). PI: Anna Penn MD, PhD
  • Therapeutic agents to prevent developmental neuroimpairment after placental hormone loss. NIH R21 (R21HD092593). PI: Anna Penn MD, PhD
  • The Genetic Basis of Morbidity and Mortality in Small for Gestational Age Preterm Infants. NIH Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Award (K23HD113827). Thomas Hays MD, PhD
  • Columbia University Irving Institute Precision Medicine Pilot Grant (UL2). Thomas Hays MD, PhD
  • Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research KL2 Career Development Award. Thomas Hays MD, PhD
  • Cerebral Autoregulation and Neurodevelopment Outcomes in Neonates with Single Ventricle Congenital Heart Disease. The Children’s Heart Foundation – Mend-a-Heart. Investigator: Nimrod Goldshtrom MD, MS
  • Mother Cabrini Health Foundation for support of the Neonatal Comfort Care Program. Investigator: Elvira Parravicini MD
  • Educational grants in support of the annual Training in Perinatal Palliative Care. AAP and Mead-Johnson nutrition/educational grant. Elvira Parravicini MD
  • Predictive Informatics Monitoring in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PI, R Moorman); RTI-NICHD-NRN Milrinone in Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Trial; Aerogen Pharma, A Partially-Blind, Randomized, Controlled, Parallel-Group Dose Ranging Study to Determine the Efficacy, Safety and Tolerability of AeroFactTM (SF-RI 1 surfactant for inhalation combined with a dedicated drug delivery system) in Preterm Infants at Risk of Worsening RDS. NIH R01HD072071. Site Principal Investigator: Rakesh Sahni MD
  • Cellular and Molecular Response to Gentamicin-Induced Injury in Underdeveloped Kidneys. NIH K08 Mentored Research Award (K08DK132519). Pamela Good MD

Selected Publications

  • Hays T, Hernan R, Disco M, Griffin EL, Goldshtrom N, Vargas D, Krishnamurthy G, Bomback M, Rehman AU, Wilson AT, Guha S, Phadke S, Okur V, Robinson D, Felice V, Abhyankar A, Jobanputra V, Chung WK. Implementation of Rapid Genome Sequencing for Critically Ill Infants With Complex Congenital Heart Disease. Circ Genom Precis Med. 2023 Oct;16(5):415-420. doi: 10.1161/CIRCGEN.122.004050.
  • Kim F, Bateman DA, Goldshtrom N, Sheen JJ, Garey D. Intracranial ultrasound abnormalities and mortality in preterm infants with and without fetal growth restriction stratified by fetal Doppler study results. J Perinatol. 2023 May;43(5):560-567. doi: 10.1038/s41372-023-01621-8.
  • Sebastian T, Gu W, Iurcotta T, Brachio SS. Improving access to neurodevelopmental resources for NICU graduates. J Perinatol. 2023 Nov 2. doi: 10.1038/s41372-023-01819-w.
  • Brachio SS, Gu W, Saiman L. Next Steps for Health Care-Associated Infections in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Clin Perinatol. 2023 Jun;50(2):381-397. doi: 10.1016/j.clp.2023.02.001.
  • McCarthy FT, Kenis A, Parravicini E. Perinatal palliative care: focus on comfort. Front Pediatr. 2023 Sep 26;11:1258285. doi: 10.3389/fped.2023.1258285.
  • Werner KM. The gender gap in caring for children with medical complexity. J Perinatol. 2023;43(7):835-836. PMID: 36964205.
  • Werner KM, Baker AC, Mercurio MR. Unique ethical considerations of the artificial womb and placenta: the threshold for patient eligibility in clinical trials. J Perinatol. 2023;43(11):1335-1336. PMID: 37596392.
  • Sahni PV, Krishnamurthy G, Sahni R. Noninvasive Monitoring to Demonstrate Postoperative Differences in Regional Hemodynamics in Newborn Infants With d-Transposition of the Great Arteries and Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg. 2023 Mar;14(2):194-200. PMID: 36503282
  • Khan M, Bateman D, Sahni R, Leone TA. Assisted ventilation immediately after birth with self-inflating bag versus T-piece resuscitator in preterm infants. J Neonatal Perinatal Med. 2023;16(2):265-270. PMID: 34151868 
  • Good PI, Li L, Hurst HA, Serrano Herrera I, Xu K, Rao M, Bateman DA, Al-Awqati Q, D'Agati VD, Costantini F, Lin F. Low nephron endowment increases susceptibility to renal stress and chronic kidney disease. JCI Insight. 2023 Feb 8;8(3):e161316. PMID: 36626229

Reviews, Chapters and Editorials

  • Polin RA, Sahni R. A physiological approach to applying CPAP in the preterm infant. Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2023 Apr 29. PMID: 37118971
  • Polin R. series editor for the 6th volume “Neonatology: Questions and Controversies”
  • Hays T. The genetic basis of congenital kidney anomalies. In Neonatology Questions and Controversies, 4th Ed. Edited by Richard Polin. 2023.
  • Vacher CM, Bonnin A, Mir IN, Penn AA. Editorial: Advances and perspectives in neuroplacentology. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 May 19;14:1206072. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1206072. PMID: 37274324; PMCID: PMC10236794.

Highlights

Comfort Care: Making the Most of the Briefest Lives

The Neonatal Comfort Care Program provides comfort, love, warmth, and superior comprehensive care to babies born with severe life-limiting conditions.

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A NICU Love Story

Newborns twins Jaliel and Jace

This is a Valentine’s story of renewed love, premature babies, extraordinary medical care, and making the most of the situation.

CUIMC News