MULTICENTER NETWORK OF NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNITS

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

This competitive renewal is in response to RFA HD-95-006 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development inviting investigators to continue to participate under a Cooperative Agreement in an ongoing multicenter clinical program designed to investigate the safety and efficacy of treatment and management strategies to care for newborn infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU). The Division o Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, headed by David K. Stevenson, M.D., includes a strong, experienced team of 13 Board-certified neonatologists. The presence of a General Clinical Research Center (GCRC), with the Pediatric Component headed by Dr Stevenson, which has functioned in conjunction with the Intensive Care Nurseries for several decades, constitutes an institutional resource for multidisciplinary and multicategorical research. The center has a prolific history of innovative clinical research accomplishments dealing with the cause, control and cure of infants' diseases. The center provides an optimal setting for controlled clinical investigation, encourages collaboration among basic and clinical scientists, and develops and maintains a nationally recognized cadre of expert clinical investigators. There is also a long and productive history of collaboration between the Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine and the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, as evidenced by joint research protocols, such as the recently completed Neonata1 Network Antenatal Phenobarbita1 trial, as well as several publications on strategies to prevent preterm labor. Presently, there are over 30 research protocols underway, representing nearly all major areas of newborn pathophysiology in which advances in basic science knowledge are being translated into new or improved methods for patient care. The Mary L. Johnson Infant Development Clinic which provides follow-up for high risk infants is a strong complement to the GCRC with a 95% follow-up compliance rate and an impressive publication record. The addition of a neighboring hospital with an established perinata1 center, new 25 bed Level III nursery and strong follow-up tradition further complements the center population base. The NIH-funded Training Program in Developmental and Neonatal Medicine, directed by David K. Stevenson, M.D., bridges the spectrum of science from developmental biology at the molecular and cellular level to clinical applications in the newborn nurseries, and covers a range of training opportunities from the pre-doctoral to the post-residency level. The Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine and the Intensive Care Nurseries, which are part of the GCRC Pediatric Component, have the physical space, the technology, the professional staff and the expanded patient population to qualify as one of the finest centers to continue in the Coo erative Multicenter Network of Neonatal Intensive Care Units.