Current Environment:

Medical Services

Specialties

Programs & Services

Languages

  • English

Education

Undergraduate School

Haverford College

1985, Haverford, PA

Medical School

Harvard Medical School

1990, Boston, MA

Internship

Boston Children's Hospital

1991, Boston, MA

Residency

Boston Children's Hospital

1993, Boston, MA

Graduate School

MPH

Harvard University School of Public Health

1995, Boston, MA

Fellowship

Joint Program in Neonatology

Boston Children's Hospital

1996, Boston, MA

Certifications

  • American Board of Pediatrics (Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine)

Professional History

My professional activities span the realm of clinical service, administration, research and teaching, all devoted to discovering, implementing and teaching evidence-based clinical care of seriously ill newborns.

As the NICU director, I am responsible for patient care, research endeavors, and educational needs. I have developed numerous important guidelines for our NICU and have collaborated on a wide range of medical improvements. We were the first NICU in New England to provide a specialized hypothermia program for babies with difficult births and now use sophisticated neurologic imaging to assess brain function. I collaborate with engineering laboratories to develop improved medical devices. I am the course director of a program to teach difficult conversations with families.

I also work on projects for resources limited settings. I helped develop a nonelectric infant warmer and collaborated with Rwandan doctors and ministry of health to develop and teach their National Neonatal Protocols.

I have authored original research papers and manuals including The Manual of Neonatal Care, The Manual of Neonatal Surgical Intensive Care, and The Manual of Neonatal Mock Codes.

Publications

In the Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) our philosophy is to ensure that every patient receives the best care for the best possible outcomes. This requires a team based approach with all members being essential:

Families: We practice family-integrated care; we encourage families to be at the center of all we do, understanding and participating in the care of their baby.

Doctors: At BCH we have an enormous breadth and depth of world-class medical and surgical subspecialists who cover all aspects of pediatric medicine and who are continuously innovating new diagnostics and novel therapies to treat newborn diseases. The treatment of each patient is coordinated by our attending neonatologists.

Nurses: We have highly experienced neonatal nurses and nurse practitioners who devote themselves to the bedside care of babies and their families, working in a primary team model to promote consistency. We are the only NICU in the country to have received the Gold Level Beacon award, a testimony to the extraordinary performance of our nurses.

Ancillary staff: this includes respiratory therapists, nutritionists, lactation consultants, pharmacists, physical and occupational therapists, social workers and interpreters who all work with us to meet our patients’ needs.