Community Nursery Program
Neonatal Transports
Newborn Follow-Up Program
Parent Support Group/March of Dimes
Clinical Research/Neonatal Research Network
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Floating Hospital for Children is part of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s (NICHD) Neonatal Research Network (NRN). There are only sixteen NICUs in the United States that have this distinction. Dr. Ivan Frantz directs the Floating center in the network, but all of the neonatologists participate. The Network was established in 1986 to conduct multicenter clinical trials and observational studies to reduce infant morbidity and mortality and promote healthy outcomes.
Data are collected anonymously on all infants less 27 weeks gestation to provide general information about outcomes and data on which to base future studies. There are three specific studies underway at present in the NICU. Before any infant is included in a study it is explained in detail to the parents and informed consent obtained.
In the SUPPORT study infants between 24 and 28 weeks gestation are randomized to one of two approaches for the initial treatment of lung disease, and one of two levels of oxygen treatment while in the NICU. The goals of the study are to determine whether outcomes will be improved by avoiding intubation and mechanical ventilation, and if there are fewer cases of chronic lung disease and eye disease with lower or higher oxygen.
In the IPGE1 study infants over 34 weeks gestation are treated with an inhaled medication relatively early in their lung disease to see whether this will decrease the need for more invasive treatment.
The cooling study includes term infants over six hours of age with severe depression at birth. The object is to determine whether cooling them will have the same benefit in reducing long term brain injury as has been shown for infants less than six hour of age. In order to learn about long term outcomes, parents of infants less than 27 weeks gestation and those who have participated in any of the above studies are asked if they are willing to bring their infants back for follow-up at 18 to 24 months of age.
Current fellow and faculty projects outside the NRN include the elucidation of maternal obesity and prematurity (Dr. Juliette Madan) and neonatal well-being (Dr. Ceara McNiff), gene-protein interactions in the prediction of initiation of neonatal intensive care (Dr. Elizabeth Pleickhardt), and interactions among risk factors for retinopathy of prematurity (Drs Minghua Chen and Ayse Citil). In collaboration with Dr Luigi Gagliardi (Lido di Camaiore, Italy), Dr. Olaf Dammann investigates the relationship between neonatal lung and brain damage. He also continues in his roles as principal investigator of NEOBRAIN and as co-investigator of the ELGAN study, two multicenter collaborations devoted to the elucidation of perinatal brain damage in extremely immature newborns.
Perinatal Infectious Diseases
Global Health