Preterm Infant outcome in the Single Family Room Model of Care 

Preterm infants are often cared for in “open bay” Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) that can be crowded, noisy and overstimulating and with little privacy for families to provide and interact with their babies.  A new model of care, the Single Family Room NICU, in which each infant has their own room, has been proposed as a way to improve infant medical and developmental outcome.  Women and Infants Hospital transitioned from an open bay to a Single Family Room NICU enabling us to compare a group of babies who cared for in the open bay NICU with a group of babies cared for in the single family room NICU.  We are comparing them at hospital discharge on medical and developmental outcome and at 18 months follow-up. We are also studying “mediators” or factors that may explain the how and why of improved outcome in the single family room model.  Primary Investigators: Barry Lester PhD, James Padbury MD.

Psychophysiologic Responses in Children and Adults with Autism

Physiological reactivity in response to social stimuli is a strong potential area for developing biomarkers of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).   Biomarkers may be used to improve diagnosis and prediction of functional outcomes. We investigate the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system by using multiple measures of physiologic responses, including heart rate variability, electrodermal responses, and pupilary responses. These measures yield information on individuals’ readiness to engage with the environment, and may be related to social functioning and developmental outcomes in children and adults with ASD. We are exploring how biomarkers may yield insights into the development of early symptoms of autism and whether they may be useful as measures of response to treatment. A goal of our current work in this area is to explore potential differences in physiologic responses during multiple baseline measures and in response to multiple social and nonsocial experiences.  Primary Investigators: Stephen Sheinkopf PhD, Todd Levine MD,  Carolyn McCormick PhD.

The Neonatal Neurobehavior and Outcomes in Very Preterm Infants (NOVI)

Infants born less than 30 weeks gestational age are at high risk for developing severe impairment including cognitive, language, and behavior disorders and autism. Unfortunately, there is no method to identify which of these infants will become impaired and which will not. The purpose of the NOVI study is to follow approximately 900 infants across six sites from hospital discharge to two years of age and to determine if our neurobehavioral exam (NNNS) , medical factors and epigenetic marks, can identify infants that will be impaired by age 2.  Acoustic cry measures will also be used to help identify infants at risk for autism. Early identification can lead to interventions that can ameliorate or prevent later deficits. Primary Investigator: Barry Lester PhD.