WVU Medicine Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit joins the BPD Collaborative

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The BPD Collaborative recently voted to make the WVU Medicine Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) its 36^th member. 

The Collaborative is a multidisciplinary group of healthcare facilities that are working to address the gaps in the research surrounding bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a chronic lung disease that affects premature infants, often those born the most prematurely. 

Its mission is “to serve as a catalyst for improving the life-long outcomes of babies who develop severe BPD by fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation in the identification and treatment of these highly vulnerable patients across all of Centers through the sharing of data, the development and implementation of quality improvement initiatives, as well as fostering research protocols to address the most pressing gaps in our knowledge.”

“We’re proud to be part of the BPD Collaborative because it gives us the opportunity to not only influence, but access, research regarding the treatment and prevention of BPD,” Cody Smith, M.D., WVU Medicine Children's neonatologist and associate professor of Pediatrics, said. “There is still so much we don’t know about BPD, and we want to do everything we can to improve the standard of care for our patients.”

The BPD Collaborative started in 2012 and has grown to include 36 participating hospitals with more than 200 participating clinicians and more than 20 types of disciplines. It has developed a BPD registry and has published peer-reviewed articles that help to improve the treatment and prevention of BPD.

“We look forward working with other BPD Collaborative members to bring the benefits of the latest medical research to our most severely affected BPD patients,” Autumn Kiefer, M.D., WVU Medicine Children’s NICU medical director and Neonatology chief, said. 

“Our NICU has been devoted to providing excellent care for patients with severe BPD for many years by creating special educational materials for families, a BPD follow-up clinic, and a core group of BPD nurses, respiratory therapists, physical and occupational therapists, and physicians with a special interest in BPD within the NICU. Joining the collaborative is an important next step for our NICU team in expanding resources for our patients with severe BPD and their families.”

For more information about WVU Medicine Children’s, visit WVUKids.com.