Contact

Associate Professor Mary Sharp | Co-Director Neonatal Directorate 
Mary.sharp@health.wa.gov.au

Departmental Overview

The Neonatal Division is comprised of the Neonatal ICU at PCH (30 beds), the Neonatal ICU at KEMH (100 beds), the Newborn Emergency Transport Service WA (NETS WA) the Human Milk Bank and the Centre for Neonatal Research and Education. Neonatal research is managed under 4 major streams. 

Key Research Areas and Projects

Nutrition, Development and Gut Health

• Early versus late parenteral nutrition for late-preterm and term infants
• Breastfeeding, lactation and human milk processing
• Improving disability-free survival or preterm infants by establishing a circadian rhythm (CIRCADIEM trial, NHMRC funded)
• Improving developmental outcomes after hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy in late-preterm and term infants with erythropoietin (PAEAN trial, NHMRC-funded,)
• Early Markers for Understanding Brain Injury through Retinal Development Study (EMUBIRD)
• Long-term developmental follow-up of very preterm infants and surgical infants Infection and Inflammation
• Improving disability-free survival of extremely preterm infants with anti-inflammatory agent as an adjunct to antibiotics for late-onset sepsis and necrotising enterocolitis (PROTECT trial, NHMRC-funded)
• Diagnosis, prevention and treatment of late-onset sepsis in very preterm infants
• Topical coconut oil to improve skin integrity and prevent LOS in preterm infants (international COSI-2 trial)

Respiratory medicine

• Lung ultrasound in the management of preterm respiratory disease
• Preclinical studies of ventilation, antenatal steroids and stem cells to prevent BPD;
• PLUSS (steroid and surfactant v surfactant to prevent BPD, NHMRC-funded)
• POLAR (dynamic PEEP v Standard PEEP for resuscitation of very preterm infants to prevent BPD, NHMRC-funded)

Intensive care

• Use of topical nitroglycerin to facilitate peripheral arterial cannulation in late preterm and term neonates
• aEEG in Neonatal retrievals
• NIRS in Neonatal retrievals