Neonatology Fellowship Program

The Division of Newborn Medicine at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital offers a fully ACGME accredited three-year fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal medicine. Aimed at training academically oriented neonatologists, the fellowship is designed for those who are expert at managing a wide array of clinical conditions and aspire to be future leaders in the field of neonatology.

Our Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (RNICU) admits approximately 800 high-risk patients per year, giving our fellows exposure to a large volume of clinical cases including infants with rare surgical conditions, genetic disorders, and prematurity. As the regional perinatal center for the Hudson Valley, an area that accounts for over 23,000 births annually, our RNICU is the only unit in the region offering the following advanced care services:

• Head cooling for patients with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy
• All facets of mechanical ventilation including:
  • High frequency jet ventilation
  • Oscillation
    
  • Volume/pressure controlled ventilation
  • Patient triggered ventilation
  • Bronchotron™
  • Bipap/Sipap
• Helicopter/ ground transport
• And a host of other cutting-edge technologies.
• Level IV Center with an Average Daily Census of ~50 babies, drawn from a catchment area of ~25,000 births

Training at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital will prepare you for every aspect of a clinical or academic career in Neonatology. Since 1999, our Neonatal-Perinatal Board passage rate has been 96%, or 45 out of 46 trainees. The fellowship participates in the National Residency Matching Program for Neonatology (ACGME PROGRAM ID# 3293521077) and accepts 4 to 5 fellows per academic year, at 14 total, making it among the largest in the nation. Fellowship spots are competitive. The ideal applicant has excelled in his/her residency, participated in medical research resulting in either publications or presentations at national meetings, and is a highly motivated, independent learner.

Fellowship Structure

The first year is more heavily weighted toward clinical experience in the NICU. There are three clinical teams that provide ample learning opportunities. The RED TEAM includes residents and a fellow, and is supervised by a senior attending physician. The GREEN TEAM is led by a senior attending physician and is assisted by a neonatal fellow and nurse practitioners. The GOLD TEAM focuses on convalescent care and transition to home and is primarily fellow-driven, with an attending physician available for rounding and consultation.

First Year

We provide a thorough two-month orientation lecture series at the onset of the first year to properly acquaint incoming fellows with the practical tools and specialty knowledge they will need to feel comfortable and confident as they begin the next phase of their career as a NICU Fellow. Fellows spend six months on service in the NICU as part of a team caring for 20 to 25 patients on these respective teams. Fellows also rotate through the Level I service at Blythedale Children’s Hospital to provide a contrast in community hospital neonatal medicine along with our attending staff. Fellows provide a month of cross coverage for post-call fellows, during which they also gain exposure to the outpatient High-Risk Infant Developmental Clinic. The remainder of the year is devoted to research.

Second Year

The fellowship’s second year increases the time spent in research to six months, with three NICU service months, one month at Blythedale Children’s Hospital and another in cross coverage. Fellows participate in all aspects of the NICU’s program to improve quality in healthcare delivery.

Third Year

The third year builds upon skills and experience learned in the first two years of fellowship and includes two months of clinical service, seven months of research, a month at Blythedale Children’s Hospital and a final month of cross coverage.

Institutions: MFCH = Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital/Westchester Medical Center     SJH = St. John’s Riverside Hospital Blythedale Children’s Hospital    
Fellowship Training Summary: clinical months = 18; research months = 15; vacation months = 3
Red Team = Teaching Team   
Green Team = NNP Team    
Gold Team = Convalescing patients w/ complex medical care needs
*All rotations have in-house (IH) on-call responsibilities at MFCH.

Research and Academics

As a university-based academic medical center, the division’s senior physicians have many basic science and clinical research interests. Basic science research focuses on single nucleotide polymorphisms, stem cell biology, hypoglycemia-associated autonomic failure, the pathogenesis of intraventricular hemorrhage, nutrition and population health. Fellows have also collaborated with post-doctoral students, medical students, master’s students and technicians in the laboratory.

Clinical research programs include participation in several national multicenter trials, and studies related to data obtained at the Regional Perinatal Center Database. Highly motivated fellows may design a specific research project based on their interests in conjunction with an appropriate faculty mentor.

Research Responsibilities

The fellowship strictly adheres to the ACGME guidelines for participation in fellowship scholarly activity. Within six months of beginning fellowship, fellows are expected to identify a mentor for scholarly activity and a potential research subject area and to design a project over the next six months. Fellows are responsible to their personal Scholarly Oversight Committee (SOC) to report on research progress, at least every six months throughout the three-year fellowship period. Fellows are encouraged to submit their work for peer-reviewed national meetings, and a draft of a scholarly manuscript is mandated by the end of fellowship. Past Fellows have received Travel Awards to attend the Eastern Society for Pediatric Research and the Pediatric Academic Societies National Meetings. The division and medical center support fellowship trainees to present their first-author work at a national meeting.

Academics

Throughout their three years, fellows participate in different conferences aimed at increasing their ability to manage neonatal cases, effectively read and interpret the medical literature, improve their skills at understanding controversial topics in neonatal care, and navigate ethical issues in neonatology. At these conferences fellows present a talk mentored by an attending physician. Weekly physiology-based case conferences cover topics in respiratory and cardiac physiology as well as genetics, endocrinology, infectious disease, and many other topics. These lectures serve to increase the trainees’ fund of knowledge and also provide assistance for passing the board examination. Fellows also attend conferences that improve their knowledge of statistics, and obtain practical exposure to the administrative aspects of neonatal care in monthly joint practice and quality assurance conferences. A joint perinatal medicine conference with Obstetrics occurs weekly.

Academic Schedule for Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellows

Clinical Schedule for Inpatient Rotations

Current Fellows: 2021-2022

PGY-8

Kevin Louie, DO
Medical School: A.T. Still University Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: NYCOM/Peconic Bay Medical Center - Internship Training; Stony Brook Medicine/University Hospital Program (Pediatrics - General)

PGY-6

Nilima Jawale, MBBS
Medical School: Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College
Residency: Maimonides Medical Center/Infants and Children's Hospital of Brooklyn Program (Pediatrics - General)

Emily Marmarou, DO
Medical School: Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Carolinas Campus
Residency: Wyckoff Heights Medical Center Program (Pediatrics - General)

Fernando Pena Cruz, MD
Medical School: University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine
Residency: Transitional Residency (San Cristobal Hospital, Ponce PR); San Juan City Hospital Program (Pediatrics - General)

Max Shenberger, MD
Medical School: Sackler School of Medicine
Residency: SUNY Upstate Medical University Program (Pediatrics - General)

PGY-5

Kriti Damodaran, MBBS
Medical School: Government Medical College Patiala
Residency: Maimonides Medical Center/Infants and Children's Hospital of Brooklyn Program (Pediatrics - General)

Nina Debenedictis, MD
Medical School: Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
Residency: Maimonides Medical Center/Infants and Children's Hospital of Brooklyn Program (Pediatrics - General)

Hannah Pee, MBBS
Medical School: Melaka-Manipal Medical College
Residency: Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center Program (Pediatrics - General)

Maria Fernandez Ramos, MD
Medical School: Universidad Centro-Occidental Lisandro Alvarado Decanato de Ciencias de la Salud
Residency: Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center Program (Pediatrics - General)

Hannah Sampath, MD
Medical School: St. George's University School of Medicine
Residency: X-MET-Pediatrics (New York Medical College)

PGY-4

Jennifer Kaswick, MD
Medical School: Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University of Chicago
Residency: Pediatrics (Westchester Medical Center)

Parvathy Krishnan, MBBS
Medical School: Madras Medical College
Residency: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Elmhurst) Program (Pediatrics - General)

Kishan Kumar, MD
Medical School: St. Matthew's University School of Medicine (Grand Cayman)
Residency: Brooklyn Hospital Center Program (Pediatrics - General)

Melani Olivares, MD
Medical School: George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Residency: Pediatrics (Westchester Medical Center)

Recent Fellowship Alumni

Immediate post-graduate appointments of Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital Neonatology Fellows:

Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center

Edmund F. La Gamma, MD
Chief, Professor of Pediatrics, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Director, Fellowship Program
View published research.


Boriana Parvez, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Associate Director, Fellowship Program
View published research.


Lance A. Parton, MD
Professor of Pediatrics 
Associate Chief RNICU
Director, Pulmonary Medicine Section
View published research.


Heather L. Brumberg, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Joint Faculty, School of Public Health
Director, Neonatal Public Health Programs
View published research.


Karen Hussein, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
View published research.


Jordan Kase, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Director, Neonatal Follow-up Program
View published research.


Melanie Leong, MD, MS
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
View published research.


Amy Reichlin, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
View published research.


Shetal Shah, MD
Clinical Professor of Pediatrics
Neonatal Immunization Research
View published research.


Meenakshi Singh, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
View published research.

Affiliated Faculty and Staff-WMC

Bistra Nankova, PhD
Associate Professor
Director, Developmental Neuroscience Lab

Govindaiah Vinukonda, MSc, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Affiliate Faculty

Garnet Health Medical Center
Manuel DeCastro, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Matthew Rainaldi, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Good Samaritan Hospital
Soheir Haram, MD
Sonya Strassberg, MD

Hudson Valley Hospital Center
Muhammad Zia, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Laura Perretta, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Blythedale Children’s Hospital  
Dennis Davidson, MD
Chief of Sub-acute Care Services

Putnam Hospital Center
Jean Chelala, MD
Instructor

St. John's Riverside Hospital
Cosmina Mandru, MD
Instructor

Anita Ware, DO
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

St. Luke’s - Cornwall
Prabhakar Kocherlakota, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Recent Faculty Publications

View faculty publications from the last 5 years:

    2017 Publications (Download Here)

    2018 Publications (Download Here)

    2019 Publications (Download Here)

    2020 Publications (Download Here)

2018-Present

Edmund LaGamma

Juul S, Comstock B, Wadhawan R, Mayock D, Courtney S, Robinson T, Ahmad K, Bendel- Stenzel E, Baserga M, LaGamma EF, Downey LC, Rao R, Fahim N, Lampland A, Frantz III E, Khan J, Weiss M, Gilmore M, Ohls R, Srnivasan N, Perez J, McKay V, Vu P, Lowe J, Kuban K, O’Shea M, Hartman A, Heagerty P, PENUT Trial consortium. A Randomized Trial of Erythropoietin for Neuroprotection in Preterm Infants. N Engl J Med.  2020 Jan 16;382(3):233-243.  PMID: 31940698.

Gogcu S, Aboudi D, Kase J, LaGamma E, Brumberg HL. Presence of neonatal intensive care services at birth hospital and early intervention enrollment in infants ≤1500 g. J Perinat Med. 2020 Apr 9:/j/jpme.ahead-of-print/jpm-2019-0393/jpm-2019-0393.xml. doi: 10.1515/jpm-2019-0393. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32284452.

Shah SI, Brumberg HL, La Gamma EF. Applying lessons from vaccination hesitancy to address birth dose vitamin K refusal: Where has the trust gone?  Seminars in Perinatology 2020;44(4):Article 151242. 

Juul SE, Vu PT, Comstock BA, et al. Effect of High-Dose Erythropoietin on Blood Transfusions in Extremely Low Gestational Age Neonates: Post Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial [published online ahead of print, 2020 Aug 17]. JAMA Pediatr. 2020;10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.2271. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.2271  PMID: 32804205

Ericksen K, Alpan G, La Gamma EF. Effect of ventilator modes on neonatal cerebral and peripheral oxygenation using near-infrared spectroscopy. Acta Paediatr. 2020 Sep 28. doi: 10.1111/apa.15600. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32989810

Shah S, Aboudi D, LaGamma EF, Brumberg H. Respiratory severity score greater than or equal to 2 at birth is associated with increased risk of mortality in Infants with birthweights less than or equal to 1,250 grams. Pediatric Pulmonology.  2020 Sep 11. doi: 10.1002/ppul.25069. Online ahead of print. PMID: 32915498

Mayock DE, Xie Z, Comstock BA, Heagerty PJ, Juul SE; Preterm Epo Neuroprotection (PENUT) Trial Consortium. High-Dose Erythropoietin in Extremely Low Gestational Age Neonates Does Not Alter Risk of Retinopathy of Prematurity. Neonatology. 2020 Oct 28:1-8. doi: 10.1159/000511262. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33113526.

Patrick PA, Canter JF, Brumberg HL, Dozor D, Aboudi D, Smith M, Sandhu S, Trinidad N, LaGamma E, Altman RL. Implementing a Hospital-Based Safe Sleep Program for Newborns and Infants. Adv Neonatal Care. 2020 Dec 18;Publish Ahead of Print. doi: 10.1097/ANC.0000000000000807. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33350711

Giri P, Hu F, LaGamma EF, Nankova B. Absence of gut microbial colonization attenuates the sympathoadrenal response to hypoglycemic stress in mice: Implications for human neonates. Ped Research 2019, 85:574-581.  PMID: 30675019

Vinukonda G, Liaio Y. Hu F, Ivanova L, Purohit D, Finkel D, Giri P, Bapatla L, Shah S, Zia M, Hussein K, Cairo M, LaGamma EF.  Human cord blood-derived unrestricted somatic stem cell infusion improves neurobehavioral outcome in a rabbit model of IVH. Stem Cells Translational Medicine. 2019; July [e-pub ahead of print] PMID: 31322326

Kocherlakota P, Qian EC, Patel VC, Mandru C, Vilar RE, Alpan G, LaGamma EF. A new scoring system for the assessment of neonatal abstinence syndrome. Am J Perinat. 2019, Nov 27. [e-pub ahead of print] PMID: 31777045

Rahman A, Shah S, LaGamma EF. Balancing parental needs for physicians’ technical help with physicians’ legal protection. JAMA Pediatrics. 2018; 172(5): 416-8. PMID: 29554177
Stevens T, Shields E, Campbell D, Combs A, Horgan M, LaGamma E, Xion K, Kacica M. Statewide Initiative to Reduce Postnatal Growth Restriction Among Infants < 31 Weeks’ Gestation. J Pediatr. 2018.197:82-89.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2018.01.074. PMID: 29631770

Aboudi D, Shah S, LaGamma E, Brumberg H. Impact of neonatologist availability on  preterm survival without morbidities, J of Perinatol, 2018;38:1009-1016.

LaGamma EF, Brumberg HL, Aboudi D, Shah S. Making a business case for a model of regionalization with neonatologist availability at all facilities: One institution’s financial tell-all. J Perinatol 2018; 38:959-962.  PMID: 29977012

LaGamma EF, Do transfusions cause necrotizing enterocolitis? Evidence and potential mechanisms. Breastfeeding Medicine, 2018; 13; No S1.

Karen Hussein

Vinukonda G, Liaio Y. Hu F, Ivanova L, Purohit D, Finkel D, Giri P, Bapatla L, Shah S, Zia M, Hussein K, Cairo M, LaGamma EF.  Human cord blood-derived unrestricted somatic stem cell infusion improves neurobehavioral outcome in a rabbit model of IVH. Stem Cells Translational Medicine. 2019; July [e-pub ahead of print] PMID: 31322326

Meenakshi Singh

Amatya S, Corr T, Singh M, et al. Management of newborns exposed to mothers with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 [2020 May 21]. J Perinatol. 2020;1-10. PMID: 32439956

Singh M, Parvez B, Banquest A, Kase J.  Habilitation of very preterm infants at a Post Acute Care Inpatient Rehabilitation (PACIR) center after neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) discharge. Dev Neurohabil. 2018 Feb 20:1-8. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 29461903

Jordan Kase

Gogcu S, Aboudi D, Kase J, LaGamma E, Brumberg HL. Presence of neonatal intensive care services at birth hospital and early intervention enrollment in infants ≤1500 g. J Perinat Med. 2020 Apr 9:/j/jpme.ahead-of-print/jpm-2019-0393/jpm-2019-0393.xml. doi: 10.1515/jpm-2019-0393. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32284452.

Scott TE, Aboudi D, Kase JS. Low-Grade Intraventricular Hemorrhage and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes at 24-42 Months of Age. J Child Neurol. 2020 Aug;35(9):578-584. doi: 10.1177/0883073820922638. Epub 2020 May 21. PMID: 32438867.

Rahman A, Kase JS, Murray YL, Parvez B. Neurodevelopmental Outcome of Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants Fed an Exclusive Human Milk Diet Is Not Affected by Growth Velocity. Breastfeed Med. 2020 Jun;15(6):362-369. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2019.0214. Epub 2020 Apr 20. PMID: 32311293.

Singh M, Parvez B, Banquest A, Kase J.  Habilitation of very preterm infants at a Post Acute Care Inpatient Rehabilitation (PACIR) center after neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) discharge. Dev Neurohabil. 2018 Feb 20:1-8. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 29461903

Heather L. Brumberg

Gogcu S, Aboudi D, Kase J, LaGamma E, Brumberg HL. Presence of neonatal intensive care services at birth hospital and early intervention enrollment in infants ≤1500 g. J Perinat Med. 2020 Apr 9:/j/jpme.ahead-of-print/jpm-2019-0393/jpm-2019-0393.xml. doi: 10.1515/jpm-2019-0393. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32284452.

Bantol KEA, Brumberg HL, Shah SI, Javier JR. Perspective from the Society for Pediatric Research: contaminants of water and children’s health: Can we do better? [published online ahead of print, 2020 May 29]. Pediatr Res. 2020;10.1038/s41390-020-0985-4. doi:10.1038/s41390-020-0985-4.  PMID: 32470969.

Shah SI, Brumberg HL, La Gamma EF. Applying lessons from vaccination hesitancy to address birth dose vitamin K refusal: Where has the trust gone?  Seminars in Perinatology 2020;44(4):Article 151242. 

Brumberg HL and Shah SI. Perinatal health services: Impacting individual, organizational, and societal approaches towards optimizing family health. Seminars in Perinatology 2020;44(4):Article 151237. 

Brumberg HL and Shah SI. Got daddy issues? Fathers impact on perinatal outcomes.  Seminars in Perinatology 2020;44(4):Article 151238.

Shah S, Aboudi D, LaGamma EF, Brumberg H. Respiratory severity score greater than or equal to 2 at birth is associated with increased risk of mortality in Infants with birthweights less than or equal to 1,250 grams. Pediatric Pulmonology.  2020 Sep 11. doi: 10.1002/ppul.25069. Online ahead of print. PMID: 32915498

Ericksen K, Shah S, Brumberg HL. Public health implications of rising majijuana use in pregnancy in an age of increasing legalization. JAMA Pediatr. 2019 Jun 1;173(6):606-607. PMID: 30958527

Wanasinghe D, Shah S, Bamanikar A, Aboudi D, Mikkilineni S, Shyong O, Wu N, Lavan T, Brumberg HB. Lifestyle characteristics of parental electronic cigarette and marijuana users: Healthy or not? J Perinat Med. 2019; 48(1):59-66.  PMID: 31855571

Aboudi D, Shah S, LaGamma E, Brumberg H. Impact of neonatologist availability on  preterm survival without morbidities, J of Perinatol, 2018;38:1009-1016.

Aboudi D, Swaminathan N, Brumberg H, Shi Q, Friedman D, Parvez B, Krishnan U. Sildenafil and retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants with BPD. J Pediatrics, 2018; 199:16-21. PMID: 29753546

Javier J, Brumberg HL, Sanders L, Hannon T, Shah S. How gaps in policy implementation cause public health malpractice. The Lancet, 2018 June 16; 391:2414.

LaGamma EF, Brumberg HL, Aboudi D, Shah S. Making a business case for a model of regionalization with neonatologist availability at all facilities: One institution’s financial tell-all. J Perinatol 2018; 38:959-962.  PMID: 29977012

Shah S, Balasubramaniam V, Brumberg HL, Sanders S. Policy priorities for child health: results from a membership survey of the Society for Pediatric Research. Pediatr Res. 2018 Jul;84(1):6-9. PMID: 29915410

Shetal Shah

Levinson M, Parvez B, Aboudi D, Shah S. Impact of maternal stressors and neonatal clinical factors on post-partum depression screening scores. [published online ahead of print, 2020 Apr 21]. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2020;1-9. doi:10.1080/14767058.2020.1754394  PMID: 32316772

Shah SI, Javier JR, Brumberg HL. The vapes of wrath: advocating to protect children from electronic nicotine systems in the age of flavored vapes. Pediatr Res. 2020;87(6):972-975. doi:10.1038/s41390-020-0872-z   PMID: 32289813.

Bantol KEA, Brumberg HL, Shah SI, Javier JR. Perspective from the Society for Pediatric Research: contaminants of water and children’s health: Can we do better? [published online ahead of print, 2020 May 29]. Pediatr Res. 2020;10.1038/s41390-020-0985-4. doi:10.1038/s41390-020-0985-4.  PMID: 32470969.

Shah SI, Brumberg HL, La Gamma EF. Applying lessons from vaccination hesitancy to address birth dose vitamin K refusal: Where has the trust gone?  Seminars in Perinatology 2020;44(4):Article 151242. 

Brumberg HL and Shah SI. Perinatal health services: Impacting individual, organizational,  and societal approaches towards optimizing family health. Seminars in Perinatology 2020;44(4):Article 151237. 

Brumberg HL and Shah SI. Got daddy issues? Fathers impact on perinatal outcomes. Seminars in Perinatology 2020;44(4):Article 151238.

Weiner DL, Balasubramaniam V, Shah SI, Javier JR; Pediatric Policy Council. COVID-19 impact on research, lessons learned from COVID-19 research, implications for pediatric research. Pediatr Res. 2020;88(2):148-150. doi:10.1038/s41390-020-1006-3.  PMID: 32544922

Shah S, Aboudi D, LaGamma EF, Brumberg H. Respiratory severity score greater than or equal to 2 at birth is associated with increased risk of mortality in Infants with birthweights less than or equal to 1,250 grams. Pediatric Pulmonology.  2020 Sep 11. doi: 10.1002/ppul.25069. Online ahead of print. PMID: 32915498

Ericksen K, Shah S, Brumberg HL. Public health implications of rising majijuana use in pregnancy in an age of increasing legalization. JAMA Pediatr. 2019 Jun 1;173(6):606-607. PMID: 30958527
Vinukonda G, Liaio Y. Hu F, Ivanova L, Purohit D, Finkel D, Giri P, Bapatla L, Shah S, Zia M, Hussein K, Cairo M, LaGamma EF.  Human cord blood-derived unrestricted somatic stem cell infusion improves neurobehavioral outcome in a rabbit model of IVH. Stem Cells Translational Medicine. 2019; July [e-pub ahead of print] PMID: 31322326

Briggs-Steinberg C, Aboudi D, Hodson G, Shah, S. Clinical tolerance of in-NICU administration of rotavirus vaccine. Am J Perinat. 2019 Nov 18 [e-pub ahead of print] PMID: 31739360

Wanasinghe D, Shah S, Bamanikar A, Aboudi D, Mikkilineni S, Shyong O, Wu N, Lavan T, Brumberg HB. Lifestyle characteristics of parental electronic cigarette and marijuana users: Healthy or not? J Perinat Med. 2019; 48(1):59-66.  PMID: 31855571

Rahman A, Shah S, LaGamma EF. Balancing parental needs for physicians’ technical help with physicians’ legal protection. JAMA Pediatrics. 2018; 172(5): 416-8. PMID: 29554177
Aboudi D, Shah S, LaGamma E, Brumberg H. Impact of neonatologist availability on  preterm survival without morbidities, J of Perinatol, 2018;38:1009-1016.

Briggs-Steinberg C, Shah S. Rationale for in-neonatal intensive care unit administration of live, attenuated rotavirus vaccination. Am J Perinatol 2018 [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 29883980
Javier J, Brumberg HL, Sanders L, Hannon T, Shah S. How gaps in policy implementation cause public health malpractice. The Lancet, 2018 June 16; 391:2414.

LaGamma EF, Brumberg HL, Aboudi D, Shah S. Making a business case for a model of regionalization with neonatologist availability at all facilities: One institution’s financial tell-all. J Perinatol 2018; 38:959-962.  PMID: 29977012

Shah S, Balasubramaniam V, Brumberg HL, Sanders S. Policy priorities for child health: results from a membership survey of the Society for Pediatric Research. Pediatr Res. 2018 Jul;84(1):6-9. PMID: 29915410

Boriana Parvez

Levinson M, Parvez B, Aboudi D, Shah S. Impact of maternal stressors and neonatal clinical factors on post-partum depression screening scores. [published online ahead of print, 2020 Apr 21]. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2020;1-9. doi:10.1080/14767058.2020.1754394  PMID: 32316772

Rahman A, Kase JS, Murray YL, Parvez B. Neurodevelopmental Outcome of Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants Fed an Exclusive Human Milk Diet Is Not Affected by Growth Velocity. Breastfeed Med. 2020 Jun;15(6):362-369. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2019.0214. Epub 2020 Apr 20. PMID: 32311293.

Carome K, Rahman A, Parvez B. Exclusive human milk diet reduces incidence of severe intraventricular hemorrhage in extremely low birth weight infants. J Perinatol. 2020 Sep 30. doi: 10.1038/s41372-020-00834-5. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32999446.

Singh M, Parvez B, Banquest A, Kase J.  Habilitation of very preterm infants at a Post Acute Care Inpatient Rehabilitation (PACIR) center after neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) discharge. Dev Neurohabil. 2018 Feb 20:1-8. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 29461903

Mintzer P, Parvez B, LaGamma EF. Regional Tissue Oxygen Extraction and Severity of Anemia in Very Low Birth Weight Neonates: A pilot NIRS analysis. Am J Perinatol. 2018; 35(14):1411-1418. PMID: 29906796

Aboudi D, Swaminathan N, Brumberg H, Shi Q, Friedman D, Parvez B, Krishnan U. Sildenafil and retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants with BPD. J Pediatrics, 2018; 199:16-21. PMID: 29753546

Melanie Leong

Leong M. Genetic Approaches to Bronchopulmonary dysplasia. NeoReview. 2019; 5: e272-e279.PMID: 31261079

Lauren Peretta

Perretta LJ, Spaight M, Yap V, Perlman J. Randomized Study of Delayed Cord Clamping of 30 to 60 Seconds in the Larger Infant Born Preterm. J Pediatr. 2020 Sep;224:153-157. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.04.058. Epub 2020 Jul 7. PMID: 32651013.

Perretta L, Reed R, Ross G, Perlman J. Is there a role for therapeutic hypothermia administration in term infants with mild neonatal encephalopathy?. J of Perinatol, 2019 Nov 25.  [e-pub ahead of print] PMID: 31767982

Cosmina Mandru

Mandru C, Perrin M, Iver R, Liveris D, Schwartz I, Alpan G, Parvez B. Bacterial content of fortified and unfortified holder pasteurized donor human milk during prolonged refrigerated storage. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr, 2019 June 20 [e-pub ahead of print] PMID: 31232828

Kocherlakota P, Qian EC, Patel VC, Mandru C, Vilar RE, Alpan G, LaGamma EF. A new scoring system for the assessment of neonatal abstinence syndrome. Am J Perinat. 2019, Nov 27.  [e-pub ahead of print] PMID: 31777045

Govindah Vinukonda

Vinukonda G, Liaio Y. Hu F, Ivanova L, Purohit D, Finkel D, Giri P, Bapatla L, Shah S, Zia M, Hussein K, Cairo M, LaGamma EF.  Human cord blood-derived unrestricted somatic stem cell infusion improves neurobehavioral outcome in a rabbit model of IVH. Stem Cells Translational Medicine. 2019; July [e-pub ahead of print] PMID: 31322326

Bistra Nankova

Giri P, Hu F, LaGamma EF, Nankova B. Absence of gut microbial colonization attenuates the sympathoadrenal response to hypoglycemic stress in mice: Implications for human neonates. Ped Research 2019, 85:574-581.  PMID: 30675019

Mohammed Zia

Vinukonda G, Liaio Y. Hu F, Ivanova L, Purohit D, Finkel D, Giri P, Bapatla L, Shah S, Zia M, Hussein K, Cairo M, LaGamma EF.  Human cord blood-derived unrestricted somatic stem cell infusion improves neurobehavioral outcome in a rabbit model of IVH. Stem Cells Translational Medicine. 2019; July [e-pub ahead of print] PMID: 31322326

Zia MT, Golombek S, Lemon L, Nitkowski Keever S, Paudel U. The influence of time of birth and seasonal variations on weight loss in breastfeeding neonates. J of Neonatal-Perinatal Med. 2019; 12(2):189-194.  PMID: 30714975

Prabhakar Kocherlakota

Kocherlakota P, Qian EC, Patel VC, Mandru C, Vilar RE, Alpan G, LaGamma EF. A new scoring system for the assessment of neonatal abstinence syndrome. Am J Perinat. 2019, Nov 27. [e-pub ahead of print] PMID: 31777045

Kocherlakota, P.  Pharmacologic Therapy of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. in  Infectious diseases and Pharmacology, Neonatology: Questions & Controversies volume 7 , Edited by Pollin RA, Benitz  WE and Brian Smith P , Published by Elsevier. Philadelphia PA Pages 243-259. Sept 2018.

Applicants are eligible for the program if they meet the following requirements:

• Have completed (or will complete by July 7th of expected start year) an ACGME accredited residency program
• Have passed all components of the U.S. Medical Licensure Examination, including:
  • Step 1
  • Step 2 (Clinical Knowledge)
  • Step 2 (Clinical Skills)
  • Step 3

International applicants must also provide evidence of the following:

• Certification by the Educational Commission of Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG).
• Successful completion of the ECFMG English Examination

Information on ECFMG Certification may be obtained at http://www.ecfmg.org.

Application Process and Requirements

To apply to our fellowship program, please complete an application through the ERAS, the electronic residency application service offered by AAMC. Their website is: https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/.

Please be sure to include the following items in your application:

• ERAS Common Application Form
• Current Curriculum Vitae
• At least three letters of recommendation, including one from your pediatric residency program director.
• Medical School Dean’s letter (same as required for residency)
• USMLE Scores Step 1, 2, 3
• Board scores
• Personal statement
  • We would appreciate a description of your clinical and research experience; your reason for an interest in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine; and your career goals.
• Recent photo

Applications from J-1 and H1-B Visa holders are considered. WMC sponsors J-1 visas.

The Fellowship Training Program in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine is directed by Dr. Edmund La Gamma, MD, FAAP, a well-recognized, academic neonatologist with over 35 years of experience whose research interests include thyroid hormone regulation in preterm infants, mechanisms of hypoglycemia-associated autonomic failure and prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis. Dr. Boriana Parvez, MD, FAAP, former division head of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and a leader in the use and distribution of donor milk for preterm infants, serves as the Associate Program Director. Drs. La Gamma and Parvez ensure all fellows receive clinical and research mentoring tailored to their ultimate career goals.
 
For more information about the Fellowship Training Program in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, please call 914.493.8558 or contact the Program Director or Associate Program Director via email.

Edmund La Gamma, MD, FAAP
Program Director
Edmund.Lagamma@wmchealth.org

Boriana Parvez, MD, FAAP
Associate Program Director
Boriana.Parvez@wmchealth.org