Hello Friends 👋
We could not be more excited to have on the show this week the legend herself... Dr. Kristi Watterberg. Dr. Watterberg is a humble neonatologists who has accomplished an incredible amount of work in the field of neonatology. Whether you have read her papers or not, there is no doubt that your practice has been shaped by her work. She recently first authored the study of hydrocortisone prophylaxis on survival of extremely preterm infants without BPD in the New England Journal of Medicine. We covered a variety of topic ranging from steroids, research methodology, mentorship and her work with the Committee of the Fetus and the Newborn. We hope you enjoy this interview.
Bio: Dr. Watterberg is a Professor Emerita of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatology at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. She served as Chief of the Division from 2006 – 2011, and Director of the UNM Signature Program in Child Health Research from 2011 – 2016. Dr. Watterberg has over 30 years’ experience conducting studies exploring newborn adrenal function, its relationship to inflammation and BPD, and long-term outcomes after preterm birth. She is the New Mexico Principal Investigator for the NICHD Neonatal Research Network (NRN, 2006-2023), which has multiple ongoing observational and interventional studies. She also was awarded a grant from NIH to study adrenal function at age six in a cohort of NRN children born extremely preterm (R01HL117764; 2013 – 2019). She has mentored fellows, faculty and other learners in research and academic advancement. Dr. Watterberg has served on NIH peer review panels and is a member of the Society for Pediatric Research and the American Pediatric Society. She has been an AAP member throughout her career, and has served on the Committee on Fetus and Newborn (COFN) as a member from 2006 – 2012, and as chair (2013 – 2017).




