Steven B. Hoath, MD
Title
Professor, Department of Neonatology and Pulmonary Biology
Appointment
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Email
steven.hoath@cchmc.org
Phone
513-803-0960
Fax
513-803-0969
Bio
Dr Hoath graduated from Stanford University and the University of Hamburg, Germany with majors in Biology and German Studies. He received his MD from the University of California, Los Angeles and completed his Pediatric Residency and Fellowship in Neonatology at UCLA before joining Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in 1984.
He has a longstanding interest in the development of fetal and newborn skin and the multiple roles of the skin as a critical interface for healthcare delivery in the NICU. In 1994, he was one of 7 international investigators participating in the first joint effort by NASA and the National Institutes of Health to study the effect of spaceflight and zero gravity on mammalian pregnancy and fetal development. This work grounds the idea of the skin as the ‘biological spacesuit’ for the human body.
He has authored multiple papers, chapters, and a book on neonatal skin development. He is an inventor on 5 patents awarded to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center based on the biology of the multifunctional fetal skin ‘cream’, vernix caseosa. Recent work has focused on the logico-mathematical organization of human epidermis and the close embryological connection of the skin and the brain.
Credentials
Certification: American Board of Pediatrics, June 1983; Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, November, 1983
Adjunct Assistant Professor: Harbor UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, 1983
Residency: Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles, 1977-79
Internship: Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, 1976-1977
MD: University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 1976
Fellowship: Neonatology, Harbor-UCLA, Los Angeles Medical Center, 1980-1982; Pathology, UCLA School of Medicine, 1973-1974
Baccalaureate: Stanford University, Biology & German Studies, 1972
Position History
2001- Professor, Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
1995- Founder and Medical Director, Skin Sciences Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio
1994-97 Director, University Hospital Nurseries, Cincinnati, Ohio
1990-2000 Associate Professor, Pediatrics, Univ. of Cincinnati College of Medicine
1984-89 Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, Univ. of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH
Awards and Honors
- Co-Chairman, Gordon Research Conference on Epidermal Barrier Function, 2005
- Vice Chairman, Gordon Research Conference on Epidermal Barrier Function, 2003
- Invited Speaker, Hot Topics in Neonatology Meeting, Washington, DC, 1998, 2000, 2004
- Invited Speaker, International Symposium on Autopoiesis, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 1997
- Principal Investigator, First Joint NIH-NASA project on Effects of Space Flight and Zero Gravity on Mammalian Pregnancy, 1994-95
- Consultant on Infant Skin Development for Procter & Gamble, 3M, J&J, Gore Industries
- NIH Clinical Investigator Award, 1985-1988, Weitzman Award for Outstanding Research Fellow, Outstanding Pediatric Teaching Resident
Research
- Epidermal barrier development (in utero and postnatal)
- Fetal and neonatal skin adaptation (skin/environment interactions)
- Tissue engineering of human skin (in vitro systems)
- Innate immune function (biology of vernix and skin proteomics)
- Development of non-invasive skin-based sensors for brain monitoring
- Role of the skin as a critical interface for health care delivery
Publications, Most Recent
Coughlin M, Gibbins S, Hoath SB. Core Measures for Developmentally Supportive Care in Neonatal Intensive Care Units: Theory, Precedence, and Practice. J Adv Nursing, in press.
Barai ND, Boyce ST, Hoath SB, Visscher MO, Kasting GB. Improved barrier function observed in cultured skin substitutes developed under anchored conditions. Skin Res and Technology, 14: 418–424, 2008.
Gibbins S, Hoath SB, Coughlin M, Gibbins A, Franck L. The universe of developmental care: a new conceptual model for application in the neonatal intensive care unit. Adv Neonatal Care. 2008 Jun;8(3):141-7, 2008.
Walker VP, Akinbi HT, Meinzen-Derr J, Narendran V, Visscher M, Hoath SB. Host Defense Proteins on the Surface of Neonatal Skin: Implications for Innate Immunity, in press. Host defense proteins on the surface of neonatal skin: implications for innate immunity.
J Pediatr. 152(6):777-81, 2008.
Tansirikongkol A, Hoath SB, Pickens WL, Visscher MO, Wickett RR. Equilibrium Water Content in Native Vernix and its Cellular Component. J Pharm Sci. 97(2):985-94, 2008.
Spitzmiller RE, Phillips T, Meinzen-Derr J,. Hoath SB. Response to Correspondence on Amplitude-Integrated EEG Is Useful in Predicting Neurodevelopmental Outcome in Full-Term Infants with Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: A Meta-Analysis. J Child Neurol. Aug; 23(8):971-972, 2008.
Tansirikongkol A, Wickett RR, Visscher MO, Hoath SB. Effect of Vernix Caseosa on the Penetration of Chymotryptic Enzyme: Potential Role in Epidermal Barrier Development. Pediatr Res. 62(1):49-53, 2007.
Tansirikongkol A, Hoath SB, Pickens WL, Visscher MO, Wickett RR. Equilibrium Water Content in Native Vernix and its Cellular Component. J Pharmaceutical Sci [Epub ahead of print], August, 22, 2007.
Spitzmiller RE, Phillips T, Meinzen-Derr J,. Hoath SB. Amplitude Integrated EEG (aEEG) is Useful in Predicting Neurodevelopmental Outcome in Full Term Infants with Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE): A Meta-Analysis. J Child Neurol. 22(9):1069-78, 2007.
Presentations, Most Recent
(3 lectures) Fetal and neonatal skin---New insights into development and clinical application; Diseases and normal variants of the skin-What is important for the neonatologist to know?; The skin as a neurodevelopmental interface-The skin as the surface of the brain, 32nd Annual Miami International Neonatology Conference, Miami, Florida, November 7-8, 2008.
Fetal and neonatal skin---New insights into development and clinical application andDiseases and normal variants of the skin-What is important for the neonatologist to know? Neonatal Lecture Series, Providence Medical Center, Anchorage, Alaska, August 13, 2008.
The Fetal Sebaceous Gland and Vernix Caseosa, Congress of the European Society for Pediatric Dermatology, Athens, Greece, May 16, 2008.
The Skin---Development and Disease, Lecture to Developmental Biology Graduate Students, February 25, 2008.
Neonatal Skin, Mead Johnson Neonatology Conference, Nemacolin, Pennsylvania, February 22, 2008.
Developmental Care in the NICU: A Neonatologist’s Perspective, Neonatal Grand Rounds, St John’s Mercy Hospital, St Louis, January 29, 2008.
Skin Care is Important, Conference on Neonatology and Critical Care, Jaipur, India, December 20, 2008.
Skin Injury and Repair, NEOCON 2007 Conference, Pune, India, December 14, 2008.
Skin Care and the Newborn, 4 Nursing Workshops, Pune, India, December 13, 2008.
Developmentally Supportive Care in the NICU: A Neonatologist’s View, Neonatal Grand Rounds, Cincinnati, Ohio, November 2, 2007.
Neonatal Skin: New Insights on Development and Clinical Practice, Academic Day for Neonatologists of Southern California, Children’s Hospital of Orange County, November 8, 2007.
Neonatal Skin: Development, Function and Disease, NeoPrep (AAP Review Course)---3 workshops, 1 lecture, Atlanta, Georgia, August 19-25, 2007.
The Universal Model of Developmental Care, 2nd Annual Developmental Therapists in the NICU Conference, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, May 3-4, 2007.
Developmental Care in the NICU, Neonatal Grand Rounds, Miller Children’s Hospital, Long Beach, California, March, 2007.
Professional Organization Memberships
- Perinatal Research Society
- Society for Pediatric Research
- Society for Investigative Dermatology
- International Society for Bioengineering and the Skin
- Society for Gravitational and Space Biology
Special Interests
Clinical aspects of Dr Hoath’s work derive from an understanding of the basics of human skin development and the multiple roles of the skin in neonatal care. New perspectives on the skin as a sensory interface are central to this understanding as is the role of the skin as an accessible environmental interface which complements ‘internal’ medicine. This view of the skin provides a unique, pivotal, and powerful opportunity to effect evidence-based organizational change in healthcare delivery to newborns. This approach highlights the criticality of the interface between Medicine and Nursing and the importance of focus on the bedside for the development of a truly “personalized” or “individualized” medicine in the future.
Related Areas
This person works in these other areas at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical
Center:
