Clinical Experiences
Albany Medical Center is the only state-designated Level IV Regional Perinatal Center in northeastern New York. The 60-bed, private room Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is one of the largest in upstate New York.
Together with the on-service neonatologist, fellows conduct work rounds, supervise and teach house staff in NICU rotations and orchestrate neonatal transports. Responsibilities are gradually increased throughout the training program. During the second and third years, fellows spend at least one month on the clinical service, as co-attendings. A one-month pediatric cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery rotation and a maternal-fetal medicine elective supplement the experience acquired on the NICU service.
The cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery rotation in the second or third year supplements the experience acquired during NICU rotations. Fellows round on neonates with pre- and post-operative congenital heart disease, with the pediatric cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgery team and pediatric intensivists. They participate in pre- and post-natal consultations and attend catheterizations and the weekly congenital heart disease conference. The curriculum includes basic instruction on functional echocardiography. The maternal-fetal medicine elective typically takes place in the third year.
Fellows attend half-day follow-up clinics during all three years. The Newborn Follow-up Program is directed by Judy Lucas, MD, director of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.
Fellows on the clinical service participate in clinical research studies and integrate quality improvement teams. Fellows must also develop their own research project(s). Assistance in study design, writing and submission of protocols, project execution, data analysis and submission for publication is provided by Neonatology and other Albany Medical College faculty members. By the end of the first year, a Scholarship Oversight Committee is appointed to oversee each fellow's research activities. Fellows are taught computer database administration and analysis for quality management, essential for competency in practice-based learning.
On-Call Schedules
The on-call schedule for fellows (with an in-house attending) is flexible. Its frequency approximates every fifth night during the first year, and every sixth night in the second and third years.
Teaching Conferences
- Neonatology Conference, scheduled weekly, rotating schedule of Journal Club, M&M review, developmental physiology topics, and research updates. In this setting, we increasingly use modules from the standardized national neonatology curriculum, optimized for a flipped classroom approach
- Pediatric Grand Rounds: weekly
- Pediatric Case Management Conference: weekly interesting pediatric cases, including neonatology
- Maternal-Fetal Medicine Conference: biweekly multidisciplinary conference, reviewing active pregnancies with significant fetal-maternal or expected neonatal complications
- OB/NICU Conference: monthly multidisciplinary teaching conference on a timely topic
- Didactic teaching sessions: two to three days per week by attending or fellow for the NICU team
- Fellow Fridays: monthly Boards review sessions
- Perinatal Ethics Conference: monthly conference with the Bioethics Department
- Neonatal Mortality Debriefings: monthly or biweekly conferences
- NRP Instructor Course: All fellows are encouraged to obtain NRP Instructor certification
- NICU Mock Code Simulation & Debrief Sessions: monthly
- NICU Boot Camp Procedural Workshop: quarterly
Additional learning sessions are added to cover the fellowship core curriculum, which includes topics in physiology, biostatistics and development of written, poster and spoken presentation skills. Other research conferences are held by research groups with which the fellow may be associated.
Research Experience
In the first year, fellows take a course on ethics of human research, identify an area of interest for research and find a preceptor with whom they develop a research project to be completed over the next two years, with additional guidance from a Scholarship Oversight Committee. Fellows must attend and present at national meetings and submit original work for publication in peer-reviewed journals.
Various clinical and basic science research opportunities are available to fellows. Current expertise within the division is strongest in clinical research, perinatal epidemiology, quality improvement, outcomes research and clinical bioethics. Our research interests focus primarily on surfactant therapy including randomized controlled trials (RCT) using the laryngeal mask airway (LMA), prevention of infection, necrotizing enterocolitis, hypothermia treatment for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), HIE biomarkers, viral respiratory infections, procedural safety and informed consent. In addition, basic research training is available under the supervision of investigators in basic science at Albany Medical College. Other basic research opportunities stem from our close proximity to the major research facility of the New York State Department of Health. There are ongoing quality improvement projects in infection prevention, intubation safety, unplanned extubation, safe alarm management, reduction in bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), feeding and growth optimization, prevention of hypothermia during DR stabilization, neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) prevention, skin-to-skin care and neonatal narcotic abstinence management. The NICU is a member of the Vermont Oxford Network and the New York Statewide Perinatal Data System.
Alternative tracks in scholarly activities are available through the Master's Program in Clinical Bioethics at Albany Medical College (with free tuition for fellows), and the Masters of Public Health program at the University at Albany School of Public Health.
Faculty Research Publications
2020
Barry G, Tauber KA, Greenberg S, Afroze F, Oeschner H, Finucane E, Feustel P, Binenbaum G. (2020) A comparison of respiratory outcomes after treating retinopathy of prematurity with laser photocoagulation or intravitreal bevacizumab. Ophthalmol Retina. In press, 2020.
Ensher, G.L. Clark D.A. Mental Health of Families and Children, Zero to Three Press, 2020
Fisher, M. A. (2020). The Ethics of Organ Transplantation in Minors. NHPCO electronic journal, 35-38.
Guthrie SO, Cummings JJ. Not sure? How should we give exogenous surfactant to newborns with RDS? Pediatr Pulmonol 2020, 55(1): 14-16.
Kanowitz, A., Hughes, D., Pinheiro, J. M. B., & for the Patient Safety Movement Foundation Workgroup on Neonatal/pediatric unplanned extubation. (2020). Actionable Patient Safety Solutions (APSS) #8D: Neonatal/pediatric unplanned extubation (UE).
Kanowitz, A., Hughes, D., Pinheiro, J. M. B., & for the Patient Safety Movement Foundation Workgroup on Safer airway management in neonates and children. (2020). Actionable Patient Safety Solutions (APSS) #8C: Safer airway management in neonates and children.
Khalak R, Horgan M. Association of maternal obesity and neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. J Perinatol 2020, 40(1): 174-175.
Khalak, R., & MacIntosh, E. (2020). Lipid Storage Disorders. Medscape.
King R, Tauber KA, Stanfel L, Colon M. (2020) Late Acetaminophen Therapy for Patent Ductus Arteriosus in the Preterm Neonate. J Pediatr Pharmacol Ther. In press, 2020.
Laventhal N, Basak R, Dell ML, Diekema D, Elster N, Geis G, et al. The Ethics of Creating a Resource Allocation Strategy During the Covid-19 Pandemic. Pediatrics 2020, 146(1).
Ndakor SM, Pezzano CJ, Spilman L, Geis G, Munshi U, Dunton C, et al. Wide Variation in Unplanned Extubation Rates Related to Differences in Operational Definitions. J Patient Saf 2020. doi:10.1097/pts.0000000000000707
Pinheiro, J. M. B. (2020). Assessment and Stabilization at Delivery. In Neonatology for Primary Care (2 ed.). Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics.
Pinheiro, J. M. B. (2020). Growth monitoring through the continuum of neonatal care and its associated transitions. Port J Pediatr, 51(1), 6-8.
Puopolo, K. M., Hudak, M. L., Kimberlin, D. W., Cummings, J., & American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Fetus and Newborn. (2020). Initial Guidance: Management of Infants Born to Mothers with Covid-19.
Tauber KA, King R, Colon M. (2020) Intravenous acetaminophen vs intravenous ibuprofen to close a patent ductus arteriosus closure: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Health Science Reports, 3(3):e183.
Wang KS, Cummings J, Stark A, Houck C, Oldham K, Grant C, et al. (2020) Optimizing Resources in Children's Surgical Care: An Update on the American College of Surgeons' Verification Program. Pediatrics 2020, 145(5).
Watterberg, K., & Committee on Fetus and Newborn. (2020). Providing Care for Infants Born at Home. Pediatrics, 145(5), e20200626.
Zupancic, J. A. F., Ying, G.-s., de Alba Campomanes, A., Tomlinson, L. A., Binenbaum, G., . . . on behalf of the G-ROP Study Group. (2020). Evaluation of the economic impact of modified screening criteria for retinopathy of prematurity from the Postnatal Growth and ROP (G-ROP) study. J Perinatol, 40(7), 1100-1108.
2019
Bal S, Ying GS, Tomlinson L, Binenbaum G, Postnatal Growth Retinopathy of Prematurity Study Group. Association of Weight Gain Acceleration With Risk of Retinopathy of Prematurity. JAMA Ophthalmol 2019.
Barry GP, Tauber KA, Fisher M, Greenberg S, Zobal-Ratner Y, Binenbaum G. (2019) Short-term retinal detachment risk after treatment of type 1 retinopathy of prematurity with laser photocoagulation versus intravitreal bevacizumab. J AAPOS 2019;23:260.e1-4.
Binenbaum G, Tomlinson LA, de Alba Campomanes AG, Bell EF, Donohue P, Morrison D, et al., for the G-ROP Study Group. Validation of the Postnatal Growth and Retinopathy of Prematurity Screening Criteria. JAMA Ophthalmol 2019.
Cerone J, Rios A. Galactosemia Pediatr Rev. 2019 Oct;40 (Suppl 1):24-27.
Cummings, J. J., & Polin, R. A. (2019). Oxygen saturation targeting in extremely preterm infants-more progress needed. J Pediatr, 205, 292-293.
Geis, G., & Cummings, C. L. (2019). Ethics and Professionalism in Neonatology Year 3 Curriculum. OPENPediatrics.
Liu T, Tomlinson LA, Ying GS, Yang MB, Binenbaum G, & G-ROP Study Group. Treatment of non-type 1 retinopathy of prematurity in the Postnatal Growth and Retinopathy of Prematurity (G-ROP) study. J AAPOS 2019, 23(6): 332 e331-332 e336.
Perinatal Palliative Care: ACOG COMMITTEE OPINION, Number 786. Obstet Gynecol 2019, 134(3): e84-e89.
Puopolo KM, Lynfield R, Cummings JJ, Committee On F, Newborn, Committee On Infectious D. Management of Infants at Risk for Group B Streptococcal Disease. Pediatrics 2019, 144(2).
Puopolo, K. M., Lynfield, R., Cummings, J. J., Committee On Fetus and Newborn, & Committee On Infectious Diseases. (2019). Management of Infants at Risk for Group B Streptococcal Disease. Pediatrics, 144(2).
Tauber KA, Clark D. (2019) Can mixed lipid emulsion prevent parenteral nutrition associated cholestasis? J Perinatol. 39(4), 593-595.
Tauber, K. (2019). Fish oil lipid emulsion to prevent cholestasis in preterm infants. J Pediatr, 207, 260.
Vehaskari, G.L. and Clark D.A. Carolina Jasmine iUniverse Publisher, July 2019
Ying, G. S., Bell, E. F., Donohue, P., Tomlinson, L. A., Binenbaum, G., & G-ROP Study Group. (2019). Perinatal Risk Factors for the Retinopathy of Prematurity in Postnatal Growth and ROP Study. Ophthalmic Epidemiol, 26(4), 270-278.