Neonatology / Pulmonary Biology

Research Opportunities

A large part of our fellowship mission at CCHMC is to train fellows in the proper conduct of research, helping fellows lay the foundation for academic careers in neonatology. Fellows are encouraged to choose a research mentor and project in the first three months of fellowship, and faculty with complementary interests are chosen for the Scholarship Oversight Committee (SOC) for each fellow. Mentors can be chosen from within or outside the Division of Neonatology, and fellows choose from a broad array of basic science, clinical, and health outcomes research options. As part of the Perinatal Institute, Neonatology collaborates with the divisions of Pulmonary Biology, Perinatal Biology, Developmental Biology, Reproductive Sciences, and the Center for Breastfeeding Medicine to offer significant research opportunities to fellows.

Cincinnati Children’s is one of 16 sites in the NICHD Neonatal Network, and clinical trials for the Network are always ongoing. The Network has been internationally recognized for findings that have led to significant advances in the clinical care of patients. Our nurseries also participate in the Vermont Oxford Network database, measuring comparative clinical outcomes internationally and collecting data on all neonates <1500 grams at birth. Establishment of a regional perinatal database is currently in development, offering fellows access to a large amount of important neonatal data from multiple databases.

Training Options

As part of their career development, many fellows choose to pursue a Masters Degree during fellowship, and fellows have obtained Masters of Public Health, Clinical Research, Education, Epidemiology, and Business Administration in the past. Many are available through the University of Cincinnati or online. The Section of Neonatology, Pulmonary and Perinatal Biology directs a T32 training grant in developmental biology which may be an option for fellows who pursue basic science research. Opportunities for post-fellowship training include the Proctor Scholar program for those who wish to pursue further training in basic science research, and the Quality Scholars program for those interested in quality improvement science. These programs offer substantial additional exposure and experience for those pursuing academic careers.

Research Presentations

Fellows are encouraged to present their work locally and nationally, participating in Research Days at CCHMC, the Ohio Perinatal Collaborative meetings, the Midwest SPR, and national meetings like the PAS/SPR and ATS meetings. Research-in-progress presentations are given to the division yearly.

Current Fellow Research

The Neonatology fellows at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center are involved in many types of research.

Fellow	Project Title	Faculty Mentor
Ceyda Acun, MD	Pathophysiology and Treatment of Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy in a Mouse Model	Kuan
Corryn Greenwood, MD	Describing the gut microbiota of the late preterm and term infant using 16sRNA PCR	Meinzen-Derr
Prakuti Jambula, MD	Enrolled – Master Degree in Business Administration	Narendran Greenberg Cahill
Brooke King, MD	Surfactant Protein D Decreases Lung Injury in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome	Kingma Kallapur Jobe Whitsett (Wheeler/Poynter)
Venkata Kuppala, MD	Prevention of Prematurity Initiative Project Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Newborns	Greenberg Schibler
Audrone LaForgia, MD	To Be Determined
Tara Lang, MD	Correlation of Neonatal Urinary NGAL Levels with the Development of Chronic Renal Insufficiency at 1 year of Age Development of a Neonatal Curriculum for the Simulation Center	Schibler (1) Devarajan (1) Haberman (2)
Rafael Mena, MD	Enrolled – Master Degree in Healthcare Focus: International Outreach	Narendran Dawodu Gonzalez
Stephanie Merhar, MD	Pharmacokinetics of Levetiracetam in Neonates	Schibler Hillman Schapiro
Nagendra Monangi, MD	To Be Determined
Christine Sarlone, MD	WNT Signaling in Pulmonary Disease Models	Le Cras Melton Hardie
Tushar Shah, MD	Inhibition of Monocyte Influx Using Targeted CCR2 Inhibitor in Preterm Fetal Lambs After Intra-amniotic Endotoxin	Kallapur Jobe Hardie
Jonathan Slaughter, MD	Characteristics of newborn screening results in preterm infants	Akinbi Leslie Rose
Elizabeth Wetzel, MD	Development of a Neonatal Curriculum for the Simulation Center	Haberman Geis Kingma