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The research mission of Robert's Program is to determine the causes and pathogenesis of SUDP utilizing interdisciplinary and state-of-the-art approaches. Our focus is especially upon the first three years of life when the risk of sudden unexpected death is the greatest. Our researchers study sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), sudden unexpected death in childhood (SUDC), sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), and unexplained sudden cardiac death in youth (SCDY). Our research promotes new clinical models and better understanding of the unique features of grief in this setting. Many members of our clinical team also work with our research team.

Research publications

  • Filiano JJ, Kinney HC. A perspective on neuropathologic findings in victims of the sudden infant death syndrome: the triple-risk model. Biol Neonate. 1994;65(3-4):194-7. PubMed PMID: 8038282.
  • Kinney HC, Thach BT. The sudden infant death syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2009 Aug 20;361(8):795-805. PubMed PMID:
  • Duncan JR, Paterson DS, Hoffman JM, Mokler DJ, Borenstein NS, et al. Brainstem serotonergic deficiency in sudden infant death syndrome. JAMA. 2010 Feb 3;303(5):430-7. PubMed PMID: 20124538
  • Holm IA, Poduri A, Crandall L, Haas E, Grafe MR, et al. Inheritance of febrile seizures in sudden unexplained death in toddlers. Pediatr Neurol. 2012 Apr;46(4):235-9. PubMed PMID: 22490769; NIHMSID: NIHMS567758; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4009678.
  • Kinney HC, McDonald AG, Minter ME, Berry G, Poduri A, Goldstein RD. Witnessed sleep-related seizure and sudden unexpected death in infancy: a case report. Forensic science, medicine, and pathology. 2013 Sep 1; 9(3): 418-21. PubMed PMID: 23852931; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3897270.
  • Kinney HC, Cryan JB, Haynes RL, Paterson DS, Haas EA, Mena OJ, Minter M, Journey KW, Trachtenberg FL, Goldstein RD, Armstrong DD. Dentate gyrus abnormalities in sudden unexplained death in infants: morphological marker of underlying brain vulnerability. Acta neuropathologica. 2015 Jan 1; 129(1): 65-80. PubMed PMID: 25421424; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4282685.
  • Goldstein RD, Trachtenberg FL, Sens MA, Harty BJ, Kinney HC. Overall Postneonatal Mortality and Rates of SIDS. Pediatrics. 2016 Jan;137(1)PubMed PMID: 26634772.
  • Goldstein RD, Kinney HC, Willinger M. Sudden Unexpected Death in Fetal Life Through Early Childhood. Pediatrics. 2016 Jun 1; 137(6). PubMed PMID: 27230764; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4894250.
  • Hefti MM, Kinney HC, Cryan JB, Haas EA, Chadwick AE, et al. Sudden unexpected death in early childhood: general observations in a series of 151 cases: Part 1 of the investigations of the San Diego SUDC Research Project. Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2016 Mar;12(1):4-13. PubMed PMID: 26782961; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4752958.
  • Kinney HC, Poduri AH, Cryan JB, Haynes RL, Teot L, et al. Hippocampal Formation Maldevelopment and Sudden Unexpected Death across the Pediatric Age Spectrum. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2016 Oct;75(10):981-997. PubMed PMID: 27612489.
  • Goldstein RD, Kinney HC. Race, Ethnicity, and SIDS. Pediatrics. 2017 Jun 1; 139(6). PubMed PMID: 28562296.
  • Goldstein RD, Nields HM, Kinney HC. A New Approach to the Investigation of Sudden Unexpected Death. Pediatrics. 2017 Jul 5; PubMed PMID: 28679642.
  • Haynes RL, Frelinger, 3rd AL, Giles EK, Goldstein RD, Tran H, Kozakewich HP, Haas EA, Gerrits AJ, Mena OJ, Trachtenberg FL, Paterson DS, Berry G, Adeli K, Kinney HC, Michelson A. High serum serotonin in sudden infant death syndrome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2017 Jul 18; 114(29): 7695-7700. PubMed PMID: 28674018; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5530643.
  • Kinney H, Hefti M, Goldstein RD, Haynes R. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In: Golden JA, Harding BN eds., editor(s). Developmental Neuropathology 2nd ed. Wiley-Blackwell. 2018.
  • Brownstein C, Poduri A, Goldstein RD, Holm I. The Genetics of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In: JR Duncan and RW Byard (editors), editor(s). SIDS, Sudden Infant and Early Childhood Death: The Past, the Present and the Future. University of Adelaide Press. 2018.
  • Brownstein C, Goldstein RD, Thompson CH, Haynes RL, Giles E, Sheidley B, Bainbridge M, Haas EA, Mena OJ, Lucas J, Schaber B, Holm I, George AL, Kinney HC, Poduri A. SCN1A variants associated with sudden infant death syndrome. Epilepsia. 2018 Apr 1; 59(4): e56-e62. PubMed PMID: 29601086.
  • Goldstein RD, Lederman RI, Lichtenthal WG, Morris SE, Human M, Elliott AJ, Tobacco D, Angal J, Odendaal H, Kinney HC, Prigerson HG. The Grief of Mothers After the Sudden Unexpected Death of Their Infants. Pediatrics. 2018 May 1; 141(5). PubMed PMID: 29712764; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6173829.
  • Morris S, Fletcher K, Goldstein RD. The Grief of Parents After the Death of a Young Child. Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings. 2018 Nov 28. PubMed PMID: 30488260.
  • Goldstein RD, Petty CR, Morris SE, Human M, Odendaal H, Elliott A, Tobacco D, Angal J, Brink L, Kinney HC, Prigerson HG. Pre-loss personal factors and prolonged grief disorder in bereaved mothers. Psychological medicine. 2018 Nov 9: 1-9. PubMed PMID: 30409237.
  • Anderson TM, Lavista Ferres JM, Ren SY, Moon RY, Goldstein RD, Ramirez JM, Mitchell EA. Maternal Smoking Before and During Pregnancy and the Risk of Sudden Unexpected Infant Death. Pediatrics. 2019 Apr 1; 143(4). PubMed PMID: 30858347; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6564075.
  • Rochtus AM, Trowbridge S, Goldstein RD, Sheidley BR, Prabhu SP, Haynes R, Kinney HC, Poduri A. Mutations in NRXN1 and NRXN2 in a patient with early-onset epileptic encephalopathy and respiratory depression. Cold Spring Harbor molecular case studies. Forthcoming 2019; 5(1). PubMed PMID: 30709877; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6371743.