The Division of Neonatology’s mission is to improve the neonatal outcome of pregnancy by providing the region’s best evidence-based neonatal clinical care, educating the next generation of neonatal caregivers and advancing neonatal scholarship.
Neonatology division faculty provide clinical service and medical direction at four regional neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The 19-bed NICU at Seattle Children’s Hospital provides care for critically ill newborns and infants with a wide variety of problems including prematurity, infection, and cardiac and surgical defects. Key services include inhaled nitric oxide treatment, high-frequency ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). The University of Washington Medical Center is equipped to handle some of the highest-risk deliveries in the nation, and its 36-bed NICU specializes in the care of extremely preterm infants. The 29-bed NICU at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett serves high-risk newborns in the northern end of the Seattle metropolitan region. Division faculty also direct and provide services in a 14-bed NICU at Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue, on the eastern side of Lake Washington. Infants at the University of Washington Medical Center, Providence Everett and Overlake needing higher-level subspecialty care or cardiac and surgical services are transferred to Seattle Children’s.
Division training programs include an ACGME-accredited fellowship training program plus medical student and pediatrics resident education. Several fellows choose to combine training in neonatology with a complementary MPH, as a result of increasing interest in global neonatal health. Division faculty also participate in and direct regional educational programs in the WWAMI region, notably the Infant Transport Program, the Medical Consultation Program, and the Center on Human Development and Disability’s High-Risk Infant Follow-up Clinic.
Current bench lab research programs are focused on the effects of narcotics on the developing brain, erythropoietin (EPO) and neuroprotection as well as the effects of neonatal stress on neurodevelopment. Clinical research focuses on clinical trials of EPO in preterm infants, biomedical informatics, medical education, use of newborn infant simulators, global health and epidemiologic research. Recent recruitments into the division include Dr. Maneesh Batra (2007) from the University of Washington, Dr. Isabella Knox (2007) from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine / Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Dr. Ryan McAdams (2008) from the United States Air Force, Dr. Linda Wallen (2009) from Oregon Health and Science University and Dr. Sarah Handley (2009) from Emory University.