Dr. Noah Hillman is a Neonatologist at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital and a Professor of Pediatrics at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. His research focuses on lung injury from mechanical ventilation and development of new techniques for decreasing injury through alternative surfactant treatments and non-invasive mechanical ventilation. He has a special interest in bubble CPAP and optimizing pressure delivery to preterm infants.

Torri Metz, MD, MS, is an Associate Professor and Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at University of Utah Health. Dr. Metz completed both her medical school and residency training at the University of Colorado. She then went on to complete her Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellowship and Master of Science in Clinical Investigation at the University of Utah in 2012.

Dr. Metz is the immediate past-Chair of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) Fellowship Affairs Committee. She is a member of both the ACOG Clinical Practice Guidelines Obstetrics Committee and the SMFM Publications Committee. She is also the Principal Investigator for the Utah Center of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network. She is the Associate Editor for Obstetrics for the journal, Obstetrics and Gynecology. Her research interests include marijuana use in pregnancy, maternal congenital heart disease, and reduction of preventable maternal morbidity and mortality.

Dr. Richard A. Polin is the William T. Speck Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons and is the immediate past Director of the Division of Neonatology at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian. From July, 1977 until January 1998, Dr. Polin was a faculty member in the Division of Neonatology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1998, Dr. Polin returned to Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of NY Presbyterian as the Director of Neonatology. In the spring of 2006, Dr. Polin received the National Neonatal Education Award from the AAP’s Section on Perinatal Pediatrics and in 2017 he was inducted into the “Legends Hall of Fame”. Dr. Polin is the 2021 recipient of the Apgar Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Polin has published over 200 original papers, 20 books (including Fetal and Neonatal Physiology, Workbook in Practical Neonatology, Pediatric Secrets and Fetal and Neonatal Secrets,) and more than 200 abstracts. Dr. Polin is the Chair of the NICHD Neonatal Research Network executive steering committee, and he is the past chair of the Sub-board of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine.

Dr. Barbara S. Saunders, a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, is on faculty at University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMCC) as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of the Division of Child Development. She is a native of Montgomery, AL, and received her B.S. in biology from the University of Mobile in Alabama. She received her medical degree from the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed a pediatrics residency at the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine/Oklahoma State University Medical Center.

Dr. Saunders completed her developmental-behavioral pediatrics fellowship at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where she also earned a Graduate Certificate in Clinical and Translational Science. She is the Executive Director of UMMC’s Center of Excellence in Developmental Outcomes Research and is active in medical student and resident education. Dr. Saunders has expertise in developmental and behavioral disorders including autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, learning disabilities, disruptive behavior, ADHD, anxiety, and depression. She is committed to improving the health and developmental outcomes of the children and families she serves at UMMC’s CAY Center.

Outside of her clinic, Dr. Saunders is a passionate sports fan and particularly enjoys cheering on the Auburn Tigers, Green Bay Packers, and Atlanta Braves.

Dr. Bernard Thébaud is a clinician-scientist with a focus on the clinical translation of stem cell-based and gene therapies for lung diseases. He is a senior scientist with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and a neonatologist with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, providing care to critically ill newborns.

He is also a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Thébaud obtained his MD at the University Louis Pasteur in France and trained in Pediatrics and Neonatology at the University Paris V, where he obtained his MSc and PhD, before completing a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta.

Dr. Thébaud studies the mechanisms of lung development, injury and repair to design new treatments for incurable lung diseases. His focus is on answering clinically relevant questions for translation into real-life applications. Over the next five years, his goal is to bring safe and effective cell and gene therapies for lung diseases into the clinic to improve patient outcomes.

Dr. Thébaud has participated on numerous peer review committees and scientific advisory boards at the international, national and provincial level, including CIHR and NIH. Dr. Thébaud holds the University of Ottawa Partnership Research Chair in Regenerative Medicine. His research is funded by a CIHR Foundation Scheme grant, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the Stem Cell Network and the Ontario Institute of Regenerative Medicine.