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Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine

Dedicated to providing the highest level of expertise in the care of women with high-risk pregnancies and in diagnosing and treating diseases and disorders of the newborn infant.

The Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine provides comprehensive care for premature and full-term infants with a complex of neonatal problems. The ICN is a major referral center for term infants with respiratory failure and persistent pulmonary hypertension, perinatal asphyxia, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and complex surgical problems, especially those with congenital diaphragmatic hernia where the survival for uncomplicated cases is greater than 90%. Special services offered in our nursery include high frequency ventilation, nitric oxide, hypothermia for perinatal asphyxia, and comprehensive neonatal health care. We also provide long-term neurodevelopmental follow-up for high-risk infants who are discharged from the intensive care nursery. The Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine is a member of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Neonatal Research Network, a consortium of the leading neonatal intensive care units in the country that perform cutting-edge, collaborative clinical research.

The Division benchmarks patient care outcomes with this group of 16 of the leading intensive care nurseries in the country. Our low birth weight mortality and rate of broncho-pulmonary dysplasia and retinopathy of prematurity are consistently among the lowest.

The Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine offers a NICHD sponsored fellowship program for pediatricians interested in advanced training in neonatal basic or clinical research. The Division houses the Jean & George Brumley Jr., Neonatal-Perinatal Research Institute which includes over 80 investigators at Duke interested in developmental biology and problems of the neonate and fetus.

Treatments

Our expertise includes a continuum of care:

  • Critically ill newborns
  • Premature infants
  • Low birth weight infants
  • Complex surgical conditions
  • Perinatal asphyxia
  • Sepsis and septic shock
  • Newborns with congenital malformations
  • Respiratory failure in newborns
  • Congenital diaphramatic hernia

We offer:

  • High frequency ventilation for respiratory failure
  • Nitric oxide for pulmonary hypertension
  • Total body cooling for perinatal asphyxia
  • ECMO

Our Division provides comprehensive coverage for nurseries at Duke Hospital, Durham Regional and Alamance Regional Hospital. For detailed descriptions of these nurseries, click here.

Physicians and Staff

Physicians

Name Areas of Special Interest
Patricia L. Ashley, MD, PhD Convalescent care of chronically ill neonates; acute care of mild to moderately ill newborns
Kamlesh V. Athavale, MD, MBBS Prematurity, care of the critically ill neonate, neonatal ventilation
Richard L. Auten, MD Critically ill newborns, newborns with congenital malformations, severe respiratory failure, ECMO, high-frequency ventilation, nitric oxide
Eric J. Benner, MD, PhD Optimizing outcomes of critically ill newborns with evidence-based practice; neuroprotein and white matter injury associated with prematurity
Margarita Bidegain, MD, MHS-CL High-risk neonatal care, prenatal, neonatal and pediatric palliative care
C. Michael Cotten, MD, MHS Optimizing care for newborns with evidence-based practice; special interest in infectious disease in low birthweight infants, perinatal asphyxia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, genome-guided approaches to neonatal diseases
Jillian L. Crouchley, MD Neonatology, low-dose dopamine usage in VLBW/ELBW infants
Shaeequa P. Dasnadi, MD Neonatology
Jeffrey M. Ferranti, MD, MS Medical informatics, computerized patient-safety initiatives, quality improvement metrics, electronic research data exchange, medical-data standards and interoperability, neonatal critical care, CPOE, electronic medical records
John P. Galiote, MD Care of premature and critically ill infants; pulmonary hypertension in low birth weight infants; quality improvement initiatives
Ronald N. Goldberg, MD Care of the low birth-weight infant, perinatal asphyxia, persistent pulmonary hypertension, congenital diaphragmatic hernia
Ricki F. Goldstein, MD Neonatal intensive care, neuro-developmental follow-up of high-risk infants
Eric N. Horowitz, MD Medical finance, community outreach, family centered care, prenatal consultation, infant nutrition
Susan D. Izatt, MD Intensive and transitional care of the ill newborn, neonatal skin, resident education
Robert W. Lenfestey, MD, MHS Pediatric pharmacology, neuroprotection of very low birth-weight infants
William F. Malcolm, MD Duke Transitional Care Nursery; convalescent and follow-up care of high-risk infants
P. Brian Smith, MD, MHS, MPH Nosocomial infections in preterm neonates, drug safety and efficacy in neonates
Alyssa M. Stephany, MD Hospital medicine; improving communication with referring providers and primary care providers; clinical education of residents, medical students, and other medical providers; quality improvement and performance improvement
David T. Tanaka, MD High-risk neonatal care, financial process analysis
Yui-Lin Tang, MD, MHS High-risk neonatal care, developmental care

Research Faculty

NameAreas of Special Interest
Richard L. Auten, MD Mechanisms by which oxidative stress disrupts postnatal lung development in premature newborns.
Margarita Bidegain, MD, MHS Palliative care.
C. Michael Cotten, MD, MHS Use of cord blood therapy for perinatal asphyxia, use of genomic studies to diagnose and guide neonatal therapy.
Jeffrey Ferranti, MD, MS Use of medical informatics, computerized patient safety initiatives.
Ronald Goldberg, MD Perinatal asphyxia, use of stem cell/cord blood therapy for perinatal asphyxia.
Mary Hutson, PhD Growth factor signalling and cardiac development.
Chay Kuo, MD, PhD Neurodevelopmental research of neural stem cells.
William Malcolm, MD Diagnosis and management of gastroesophageal reflux.
David Tanaka, MD Health care economics.

Neonatal-Perinatal Research Unit Staff

NamePosition
C. Michael Cotten, MD, MHS Medical Director
Kimberley Fisher, PhD, FNP-BC, IBCLC Director of Operations

NICHD Neonatal Research Network Staff

NamePosition
Malissa Dunn, RRT Clinical Research Nurse
Katherine Foy, RN Clinical Research Coordinator, Neonatal Research Network
Sandra Grimes, RN, BSN Coordinator of Industry and Investigator Research
Charles Vajdl Clinical Trials Assistant

Staff

NamePosition
Emily Patterson                    Patient Services

Clinic Hours and Location

Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center
2301 Erwin Road
Durham, NC 27710
Tel: 919-668-4000

Durham Regional Hospital
3643 Roxboro Road
Durham, NC 27704
Tel: 919-470-4000

Alamance Regional Medical Center
1240 Huffman Mill Road
Burlington, NC 27215
Tel: 336-538-7000

Nash General Hospital
2460 Curtis Ellis Drive
Rocky Mount, NC 27804
Tel: 252-962-8290 



 

Appointments and Contact Information

  • Referrals 24/7: 800-MED-DUKE (800-633-3853) or call the Intensive Care Nursery directly and ask to speak to the fellow or attending on call: 919-681-5551.
  • Urgent calls during business hours: 919-681-5551.