Sara Berkelhamer, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Clinical Interests: Providing evidenced based care to optimize prevention and management of neonatal lung injury, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and BPD‐associated pulmonary hypertension. To improve outcomes of infants through optimized education and practice of neonatal resuscitation both at an institutional and global health level.
Scholarly Focus: Dr Berkelhamer’s laboratory research in pulmonary physiology incorporates translational models of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, nicotine‐induced developmental dysplasia and neonatal resuscitation. Her interests include the contribution of mitochondrial oxidative stress to early lung injury, development of pulmonary hypertension and recovery of lung disease. Her interest in neonatal resuscitation bridges both laboratory and clinical work, with a long history of involvement in resuscitation and neonatal education in low resource settings. She is a member of the Helping Babies Survive Planning Group, an associate editor of the Essential Care for Every Baby and an editor of the Essential Care for Small Babies programs. Current global health efforts include evaluation of remote education processes and tools, as well as the use of continuous heart rate monitoring during resuscitation in low‐resource settings.
Research Funding:
2020‐2021 Maternal and infant health effects of replacing cigarettes with e‐cigarettes.
3R21HD091515‐02S1 (NIH/NICHD). Co‐mentor/CoI. $50,000.
2021‐2023 Impact of Essential Newborn Care Training on Quality Improvement Efforts, Laerdal Foundation Saving Lives at Birth Grant. $45,000. PI (4% FTE).
2021‐2023 Education Videos to Enhance Training and Retention of Helping Babies Breathe, Laerdal Foundation Saving Lives at Birth Grant. $45,000. Co‐I.
Education/Administrative Rolls: Section of Perinatal Neonatal Medicine Representative on the AAP’s NCE Planning Group, Member of the AAP’s Helping Babies Survive Planning Group. AAP Global Health Consultant, Neonatal Resuscitation Program Instructor, Helping Babies Survive/Essential Newborn Care Facilitator.
