The neonatal-perinatal medicine fellowship program benefits from a wide-ranging scholarly infrastructure offering fellows multiple avenues for research activity. The program leadership feels strongly that research opportunities should be tailored to fellows’ specific interests and career goals. Equal value is placed on projects in clinical research, basic science, POCUS, health services, advocacy and health policy, global health and quality improvement.
Research Leadership
Alan Groves, M.D.
Director of Neonatal Research
Fellows are supported and mentored in selecting a scholarly project by Alan Groves, M.D. Groves has a 25-year track record of successful research, particularly in the fields of cardiac MRI, targeted neonatal echocardiography and point of care ultrasound. Groves has published more than 60 peer-reviewed manuscripts and been awarded nearly $3 million in research funding.
Davika Reid, Ph.D.
Co-Director of Neonatal Research
Davika Reid, Ph.D., is an experienced neonatal nurse with comprehensive training in research design, methodology and administration. Her office is located within the Dell Children’s Neonatal office suite where fellows can easily meet with her and ask questions about their scholarly project design and IRB submission. Together, Groves and Reid oversee a monthly divisional research meeting with discussion about current active studies as well as collaborative new study design.
Faculty Support
Fellows are fully supported in their research project selection with opportunities to meet with numerous faculty members within and outside of the division of neonatology. Research leadership, along with faculty members and collaborators meet with fellows early in their research journey to help them explore the literature, find areas of interest and turn ideas into answerable research questions and implementable research protocols. Fellows are supported in obtaining administrative approvals for their research as well as in applying for research funding if required.
Research Opportunities
The fellowship program sits within Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin and provides ample opportunity for collaboration. A particular strength of the program is the active partnership with David Paydarfar, M.D., chair of the department of neurology and director of the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences. Paydarfar and his team have an extensive infrastructure of vital sign analytic analyses, and drive multiple projects examining control of breathing, heart rate variability, event prediction and development of movement in preterm infants.
Multiple other clinical research collaborations are in place with research partners in cardiology, pulmonology, obstetrics, maternal-fetal medicine, neurology, hematology and more.
Neonatal faculty members also collaborate with biosensing and medical device development teams at the Cockrell School of Engineering. The program includes exciting opportunities for device development and licensing with support from UT’s Discovery To Impact program.
Ascension Seton Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is a member of the Vermont Oxford Network database. Dell Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is a member of the Vermont Oxford Network as well as the Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium. Paid membership in both of these collaborative networks offers numerous opportunities for clinical and quality improvement research both at the local level as well as through national focus groups.
Dell Med’s Health Transformation Research Institute provides leadership and infrastructure to support robust, innovative and world-class clinical and late-stage (T2-T5) translational research. This team supports training for Dell Med researchers and learners conducting translational investigation, as well as the development of an integrated learning health system in which research is embedded in, drives and reinforces excellence in clinical, educational and community-focused missions.
Texas Health Catalyst at UT provides researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs customized guidance on product development from industry and clinical experts, as well as milestone-based seed funding. Trainees with an interest in biomedical engineering and product development can seek support through the program to support the translation of promising ideas into products that improve health.
Current Fellow Research
Daniel (Jesse) Janes, M.D.
Prospective observational study of multiple echocardiographic measures of pulmonary vascular transition in very preterm infants
Erica Ortiz, M.D.
Prospective randomized controlled trial of impact of addition of a wireless wearable breast milk pump on maternal milk production
Vaibhav Bhamidipati, M.D.
Mixed methods analysis of impact of provision of a parent-informed education package on parental stress and anxiety levels.