Challenges in caring for bronchopulmonary dysplasia in 2023

Dr. Nelin is the Division Chief of Neonatology at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Dean Jeffers Endowed Chair in Neonatology and a Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Clinically, Dr. Nelin is particularly interested in respiratory diseases, specifically in how pulmonary blood flow affects newborn respiratory diseases. Thus, persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn(PPHN) is one of his primary clinical interests. This has lead to his research interest in nitric oxide (NO), a potent vasodilator whose production is decreased in patients with PPHN. Utilizing cell culture techniques, isolated perfused lungs and animal preparations, Dr. Nelin studies the mechanisms that determine biological availability of the amino acid L-arginine on the ability of the lungs to produce NO and thereby regulate blood flow. The ultimate goal of this research is to understand the pathophysiology of PPHN and to develop new and specific therapies for the treatment of lung diseases that are characterized by alterations in NO production. A second area of research interest is the study of the developmental toxicology of inhaled NO.

Platelet Transfusions in the NICU: Less is More

Dr. Martha Sola-Visner was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She obtained her medical degree at the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil, Ecuador, and then moved to the U.S. to pursue residency in Pediatrics and a fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at the University of Florida, where she trained in neonatal hematology under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Christensen. Dr. Sola-Visner completed her training in 2000, and stayed at the University of Florida as an attending neonatologist. She and her family then moved to the Northeast, and she joined the Division of Newborn Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital in 2007. She is currently an attending neonatologist and director of Newborn Medicine Clinical Research at Boston Children's Hospital, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sola-Visner has dedicated her research career to study neonatal megakaryocyte and platelet biology and neonatal transfusion medicine.

To cool or not to cool? Therapeutic Hypothermia Controversies

Dr. Britton Zuccarelli MD is a practicing child neurologist from Salina, KS. As a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics and neurology for the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Salina, she has the pleasure of mentoring physicians in training, as well as family medicine residents as an attending physician through the Smoky Hill Family Medicine Residency Program. Dr. Zuccarelli interprets electroencephalograms for ten hospitals across Kansas including Overland Park Regional Medical Center. In her free time, Dr. Zuccarelli enjoys running as a member of the Ainsley’s Angels racing team and spending time with her husband, a physical therapist, and their three children.

Caring on Empty: Understanding and Managing Compassion Fatigue

Dr. Lassen is a Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Kansas Medical Center. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Child Psychology from the University of Kansas. He completed his residency in Clinical Child Psychology/Pediatric Psychology at Harvard Medical School and his postdoctoral fellowship in Pediatric Psychology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Dr. Lassen’s clinical and research interests include perinatal mental health, children with chronic or life-limiting illnesses and their families, as well as the impact of parental illness on children. Dr. Lassen serves in leadership roles in various mental health and medical organizations and lectures regularly to regional and national audiences on a variety of mental health issues.

Heading Towards an Era of Personalized Medicine for NEC: Are We There Yet?

Dr. Misty Good serves as the Chief, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. The Good Laboratory is focused on the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of a devastating intestinal disease primarily affecting premature infants called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). The long-term goal of the Good Lab is to understand the signaling pathways regulating the uncontrolled immune response in NEC and how these responses can be prevented through dietary modifications or targeted intestinal epithelial therapies. Her basic and translational research utilizes a bench-to-bedside approach with multiple cutting-edge techniques. In her pre-clinical studies, their team utilizes a humanized neonatal mouse model of NEC to understand the signaling pathways and immune cell responses involved in NEC development. Specifically, the laboratory interrogates ways to modulate the immune response, epithelial cell and stem cell regeneration as well as early microbial colonization during NEC. In the clinical component of her research program, Dr. Good leads a large multi-center NEC biorepository for the dedicated pursuit of molecular indicators of disease and to gain greater pathophysiologic insights during NEC in humans. Dr. Good also developed a premature infant intestine-on-a-chip model to study NEC and provide a personalized medicine approach to test new therapeutics. Her laboratory is currently funded with multiple NIH R01 grants and has previously received K08 and R03 funding as well as awards from the March of Dimes, the Gerber Foundation and the NEC Society.

Transport of the Infant with Suspected Cardiac Disease

Dr. Howard Stein is a Neonatologist and is Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Section Chief of the Division of Neonatology at ProMedica Ebeid Children’s Hospital in Toledo, Ohio. He is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toledo Health Science Campus. He is President of the Medical Staff of Promedica Ebeid Children’s Hospital and Chairman of the ProMedica Institutional Review Board. He also completed a Pediatric Cardiology fellowship and worked as a Pediatric Cardiologist and Pediatric Intensivist for many years. Dr. Stein is one of the national reviewers of the S.T.A.B.L.E. Program including the Physical Exam and Cardiac Modules.

Dr Stein has worked with NAVA ventilation since 2008 and has taken care of hundreds of neonates on NAVA and NIV NAVA. He is an expert on NAVA ventilation and is actively doing clinical trials utilizing NAVA in the NICU. He has published articles and presented his findings about NAVA at national and international meetings. He, along with Kim Firestone BS RRT, developed the clinical guidelines and management strategies for NAVA ventilation in neonates.

The Process of Accreditation

Jan Eichel is Associate Executive Director for CAMTS based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ms. Eichel has over 30 years of experience as a flight nurse and Clinical Director, in addition to educator on a regional and national level. She has also served on the CAMTS Board of Directors representing the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and a site surveyor since 2005. She is active in publishing both research and text pertinent to the specialty of transport medicine. Contributing writings include Patient Transport: Principles & Practice, 5th Edition, The Walls Manual of Emergency Airway Management, 4th & 5th Edition and Transport Nurse Advanced Trauma Course Provider Manual, 4th, 5th & 6th Editions (currently ASTNA: Transport Professional Advanced Trauma Course).