Main ContentNeonatal Research
The University of Mississippi's Division of Newborn Medicine is actively engaged in research. Our goals are to integrate basic science research into clinical medicine and to promote the basis for scientific investigation, study design, and the analysis and reporting of study results for all throughout the state. The neonatology division is nationally recognized for pioneering research that has contributed to advancement of science in the field of developmental neurobiology. In addition, our program provides unique opportunities for clinical/translational research and quality improvement projects in a variety of fields. These include projects, such as investigating the effects of IUGR on hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, or leading quality improvement projects, such as the "golden hour" in the NICU.
As Mississippi's only Children's Hospital, Children's of Mississippi has the state's only Level IV academic newborn/neonatal facility and is devoted to the health and well-being of the newborn. This NICU provides comprehensive care for babies delivered at our hospital as well as for those transferred from other hospitals in Mississippi and neighboring states.
The Division of Newborn Medicine investigators seek a better understanding of brain injury in premature infants caused by adverse perinatal environmental factors, such as inflammation, hypoxia-ischemia, corticosteroid exposure, and hyper-oxygenation, among others.
Developmental origins of chronic diseases
Influences that occur during early life, including preconception, fetal life or birth, exert a long-term impact on an individual's health across their lifespan. Research into how chronic disease has its origins during development was first initiated by Dr. David Barker, who noted that low birth weight increased the risk for coronary heart disease in later life. The developmental origins of health and disease is a very active area of research that is dedicated to investigating how fetal exposure to adverse influences during early life can have a long-term impact on the later health and disease of an individual. The Division of Newborn Medicine leads the research in this area with a strong collaboration with the Physiology department at the UMMC.