Nehal A. Parikh, DO, MS

Biography

Dr. Nehal Parikh’s singular goal is to prevent neurodevelopmental disabilities. Following rigorous training in translational research and clinical trials, he embarked on studies of etiology, prediction and prevention of neurodevelopmental disabilities in high-risk newborns. He has led or co-led several cohort studies of advanced brain MRI in very preterm infants, clinical trials of neuroprotective therapies in high-risk newborns, and the development of the NICHD NRN Extremely Preterm Birth Outcomes prognostic calculator and website. Increased survival of extremely preterm infants has contributed to a higher prevalence of survivors with motor, cognitive, and behavioral/psychiatric abnormalities. Accurate diagnosis of these abnormalities takes 2 to 3 years. These early years are when the brain is most active in building its wiring system and optimally receptive to change and healing. Thus, when the diagnosis is delayed by up to 3 years, we are losing precious time. Newer approaches to diagnosis, prediction and prevention of developmental disabilities are urgently needed to improve the long-term quality of life of high-risk newborns.

The Parikh lab employs advanced brain MRI tools such as volumetric, diffusion, and functional MRI for early identification of biomarkers of brain injury/delayed development that are predictive of disabilities in individual high-risk neonates/infants. The lab’s current focus is to understand the nature of the commonly encountered diffuse white matter abnormalities and to develop early prognostic models of motor, cognitive, and behavioral abnormalities in a geographic cohort of 500 very preterm infants. This important step will facilitate risk stratification, soon after birth, to design clinical trials of targeted neuroprotective interventions during the critical window of the first 3 years after birth when brain plasticity is at its peak.