Neonatology-Perinatology

Faculty in the Division of Newborn Medicine are engaged in several research projects, including:

Longitudinal study examining the effects of prematurity on cardiac function and fat composition.
Determine the impact of selective head cooling in preventing ongoing injury following intra-partum hypoxia ischemia.
Randomized study to determine whether 30 versus 60 second delay of cord clamping improves the transitional adaption in premature infants of > 28 to 34 6/7 weeks gestation who establish respirations within 30 seconds after birth.
Determine how many times of refresher training it takes for nurses to achieve competence in basic resuscitation skills using a low fidelity manikin.
Reducing early neonatal mortality in Tanzania-low resource setting.
Determine which MRI changes at the term of discharge can predict neurobehavioral and cognitive outcomes at three years of age.

Helping Babies Breathe (HBB)

Jeffrey Perlman, M.B., Ch.B., leads robust global health programs in Tanzania and the Eastern Cape of South Africa, targeting the reduction of early neonatal mortality. He introduced the Helping Babies Breathe program in Tanzania in 2009. A pilot implementation of the program resulted in a 47 percent reduction in early neonatal mortality. HBB was subsequently introduced nationally in Tanzania, and is now embedded in national medical and nursing school curricula.

Press

Designing and Implementing the Helping Babies Breathe Program in Tanzania (Journal of Pediatric Intensive Care, 2017)
Breathing Program May Help Save Newborns’ Lives (Reuters, 2013)
Helping Babies Breathe: New Global Program to Boost Newborn Survival Rates (AAP News, 2010)

Other Global Health Initiatives

Weill Cornell Medicine global health researchers have reduced early neonatal mortality by 48 percent with maternal and neonatal antibiotics, antenatal steroids and avoidance of hypothermia. Methods to identify and manage newborn infants at risk for bilirubin encephalopathy and kernicterus secondary to unrecognized severe jaundice are also being tested.