The division of neonatology in the department of pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville provides superior care with a team of highly trained neonatologists and physician extenders.

Patient Care

UF Health Neonatology – Jacksonville offers expert medical care for premature and critically ill newborns. These tiny patients receive the finest medical care possible in our 43-bed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at UF Health Jacksonville. As a Level III regional referral center, physicians and staff provide intensive care for infants from around Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia. Over the years, we have implemented advanced technologies and new pharmacological therapies that have been demonstrated to improve survival or to decrease morbidity.

Our team of caregivers includes board-certified faculty neonatologists, pediatric surgeons, neonatal nurse practitioners, physician assistants, respiratory therapists, transport specialists and other specially trained support staff who are on hand 24 hours a day to respond to newborn infants in need of highly skilled care.

Our network of UF newborn specialists also provide 24-hour in-house care at Wolfson Children's Hospital's Level III newborn intensive care unit and two special care Level II nurseries at Baptist Medical Center South and Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine.

In addition, the division manages the neonatology services and provides newborn care at Baptist Medical Center - Beaches. Our aim is to provide a level of expert and compassionate on-site neonatal medical care and consultations that is the finest in the state of Florida.

We welcome your interest in our division and invite you to explore the rest of our website. You may also contact us with any additional questions you may have.

Research

The division of neonatology in the department of pediatrics at the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville actively engages in both clinical and non-clinical outcomes research, with an emphasis on cardiorespiratory physiology and outcomes, nutrition and the epidemiology of necrotizing enterocolitis.

The division currently participates in multiple NIH-funded and industry-funded studies.

The division leads the national children's study effort in Baker County, Florida. This is a complex longitudinal study that is designed to examine the effects of environmental and genetic influences on the health and development of more than 100,000 children across the United States. About 100,000 children will be recruited into the study over 4 to 5 years and then these children and their families will be followed until the child is 21 years old.

The division is also participating in an NIH-funded study that seeks to relate the evolution of the intestinal microbiota to the occurrence of necrotizing enterocolitis. Another NIH-funded study assessed the efficacy of prophylactic treatment with fluconazole in infants with birth weights less than or equal to 750 grams on neonatal candida sepsis. This study has moved into the phase of evaluating neurodevelopmental outcomes at 1-2 years of age.

The efficacy and safety of treating infants at risk for chronic lung disease with "late" surfactant beginning between 7 to 14 days of age is also in progress. This NIH-funded study is being done in collaboration with Dr. Roberta Ballard at the University of California at San Francisco.

The division of neonatology also currently collaborates with the Canadian neonatal network in an international database designed to collect information on all infants admitted into the NICUs at both UF Health Jacksonville and Wolfson Children's Hospitals. The information collected in the database provides the Neonatologists a way of benchmarking their level of care against the top NICUs in Canada and a few other NICUs in the United States.

To view publications for faculty, please visit the faculty page and click on the "view full profile" button to the right of each faculty member's name. Then, follow the link at the bottom of the page titled "search for publications by this faculty member," which links to the PubMed site.

• Publications
• Presentations

Contact Us

For information on the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville division of neonatology, please contact: