Marie Abraham, MA, is Vice President for Programming and Publications for the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care (IPFCC). Since joining IPFCC in 1996, her work has included providing consultation to hospitals, clinics, and health care systems working toward patient- and family-centered change and building partnerships with patients and families to redesign health care; developing resources and authoring publications; and serving as lead planner and faculty for IPFCC training efforts. She serves as consultant and faculty for the Vermont Oxford Network. Prior to joining IPFCC, Marie served as developmental specialist for infants and young children in hospital- and community-based settings.

Amy Atwater, MPA, BSN, RN, CPSS, is a Certified Patient Safety Specialist with extensive experience in quality improvement and project management, resulting in several publications. A former NICU nurse and leader, she has applied this expertise as a Vermont Oxford Network faculty member for the past 10 years. Her passion for the NICU population and their families has led to roles focused on advocacy and facilitating projects that positively impact this vulnerable population. Outside of work, Amy enjoys spending time with her family, playing pickleball, and traveling to warm Caribbean islands for snorkeling and diving.

Janelle Bainter, MSW, is Manager of Virtual NICU Family Support at March of Dimes and provides site management to six NICU Family Support program sites. A native of Illinois, she completed her master's social work practicum in the NICU at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Before her current role, Janelle worked extensively with children and families as a case manager supporting children with mental health diagnoses, teens facing substance use challenges and justice system involvement, and adults and children living with HIV/AIDS. She lives in Portland, Maine, and is the mother of three, including a NICU graduate.

Arvelle Balon-Lyon, RN, BN is an internationally recognized health system leader with more than 30 years of experience advancing quality improvement, leadership, and health system transformation. She is CEO of Health Innovation Group and has served as a Quality Leader with Vermont Oxford Network for 13 years, supporting neonatal intensive care teams to improve quality, patient safety, and outcomes. Her expertise spans primary care, maternal-child health, NICU, seniors care, and integrated health and social care. In 2017, the Canadian Nurses Association recognized her as one of Canada's Top 150 Nurse Innovators for her contributions to health innovation.

Sonia Lomeli Bonifacio, MD is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University and Director of the NeuroNICU at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. She has served as Faculty Leader for VON's All Care is Brain Care collaborative for the past four years, working with NICUs across the country to embed brain-focused care into everyday NICU practice, with the conviction that every care decision has the potential to shape a newborn's developing brain and long-term outcome. Her work spans neonatal neurocritical care, quality improvement, and health equity, with a commitment to ensuring that all newborns, regardless of where they are born, receive optimal brain care.

Desiree Collins-Bradley is a patient and family engagement leader dedicated to advancing patient-centered care and ensuring patient and family voices are represented in healthcare decision-making. Her advocacy began after her daughter was born with Jarcho-Levin Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder associated with significant medical complexity. A recognized leader in family-centered care, she has served on numerous hospital committees, including as Co-Chair and founding member of the Newborn Center Family Advisory Committee at Texas Children's Hospital. Desiree serves as Project Coordinator for Project DOCC Houston and leads ATW Health Solutions' Patient Partner Innovation Community, a national network of more than 4,000 members.

Sheri L. Carroll, MD, is NICU Medical and Quality Director at Betty Cameron Women's and Children's Hospital and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the UNC School of Medicine. She uses the principles of quality improvement science to introduce system changes in clinical practice, with a particular interest in incorporating a family-centered approach to care for all babies, especially very low birth weight infants. Dr. Carroll earned a Certificate in Health Outcomes and Quality of Care from the UNC School of Public Health and completed Advanced Improvement Methods training through Cincinnati Children's Hospital. She leads quality improvement initiatives at the unit, state, and national levels through the Perinatal Quality Collaborative of North Carolina and the Vermont Oxford Network Quality Collaborative.

John Chuo, MD, MSBI, is Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Neonatal Quality Officer for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Newborn Network. He completed neonatal-perinatal fellowship training at Boston Children’s Hospital and earned a Master of Biomedical Informatics through the MIT-Harvard Health Sciences and Technology program. He received quality improvement training from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. His work focuses on quality improvement tools, team performance, and the implementation and evaluation of telemedicine in neonatal care.

Cicely Fadel, MD, PhD, is an attending neonatologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Instructor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and Senior Program Officer on the Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Discovery and Tools team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She earned her MD and PhD in Neuroscience from Yale University, completed pediatric residency and served as chief resident at Children’s National Medical Center, and completed neonatology fellowship training through the Harvard Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Program, where she was chief fellow. Her work focuses on maternal and newborn health, global health equity, and neonatal research.

Jennifer Fang, MD, MS, FAAP is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and a Consultant in the Division of Neonatal Medicine at Mayo Clinic. She serves as Medical Director for their Teleneonatology Program, which serves 20 community hospitals in a three-state region. Dr. Fang is Chairperson for the AAP Section on Telehealth Care, where she leads Section efforts on telehealth education, research, advocacy, and policy development. She is Principal Investigator for the R01 NICHD funded TELENEO Trial, a prospective, multi-center clinical trial evaluating the impact of teleneonatology on the early health outcomes of at-risk neonates born in rural and community hospitals.

María V. Fraga, MD, is Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and an attending neonatologist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). She directs CHOP's Point-of-Care Ultrasound Program and co-directs the CHOP Bedside Ultrasound Course. Her clinical and research interests focus on neonatal hemodynamics, pulmonary physiology, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, and point-of-care ultrasound applications. Dr. Fraga serves as principal investigator for multiple multicenter studies and is a recognized international leader in neonatal ultrasound education. She is also Chair and co-founder of the National NeoPocus Collaborative, advancing neonatal POCUS education and research worldwide.

Kelley Benham French joined The Washington Post investigations unit in 2024 as its first narrative accountability editor, where she leads immersive investigative storytelling focused on issues of national importance. She previously served as senior editor for storytelling at The Dallas Morning News and worked on narrative and investigative projects at USA TODAY. A longtime journalist, editor, and professor, she has taught journalism in six countries and 14 states, with a focus on narrative craft, communication, and media ethics. She frequently mentors journalists and communicators and co-authored the book "Juniper: The Girl Who Was Born Too Soon".

Thomas French is an award-winning journalist, author, and educator known for advancing narrative nonfiction storytelling in both his reporting and teaching. He spent nearly three decades at the St. Petersburg Times, covering criminal trials, hurricanes, and in-depth narrative series. In 1998, he received the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for Angels & Demons, a serialized account of a Tampa-area murder case. French is a Writing Fellow at the Poynter Institute and teaches in the nonfiction master’s program at Goucher College. He is married to journalist Kelley Benham French, and they have two sons.

With more than 25 years of experience in education, family engagement, and neonatal healthcare, Marybeth Fry, MEd, is a nationally recognized leader in family-centered care and quality improvement. As NICU Family Care Coordinator at Akron Children’s Hospital and Family Faculty Lead for the Vermont Oxford Network, she partners with families, clinicians, and healthcare organizations to improve outcomes through education, collaboration, and quality improvement initiatives. Her daughter’s unexpected birth at 28 weeks and 78-day NICU stay changed the trajectory of her life, shaping her commitment to family-centered care and ensuring families are valued, informed, and essential partners in care.

Jessi Gold, MD, MS, is a psychiatrist, author, and speaker focused on mental health, wellness, and culture change in healthcare and academic settings. She serves as Chief Wellness Officer for the University of Tennessee System and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Her clinical work centers on supporting individuals in high-stress professions, particularly healthcare workers and academics. Dr. Gold writes frequently about mental health for national media outlets and is the author of How Do You Feel?: One Doctor’s Search for Humanity in Medicine, which explores the emotional realities of modern healthcare.

James Gray M.D., M.S., Professor of Pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth is an experienced neonatologist, informatician and health services researcher. His research has been focused on advancing patient safety and improving the quality of newborn care. To this end, he has developed innovative improvements to family-centered neonatal intensive care and the methods used to assess them in a rigorous program of research. that has been recognized at multiple levels.

Munish Gupta is the Director of Quality and Safety for the Department of Neonatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). His academic work focuses on quality improvement and patient safety, with particular interests in the development of state-based perinatal quality collaboratives and the use of data for quality improvement. Munish is the past chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine (SONPM), and is a member of the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) Subboard for Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. He is the editor for Quality Reports for the journal Pediatrics.

Scott O. Guthrie, MD, is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine – Chattanooga and System Director of Neonatal Quality, Research, and Outreach at Children’s Hospital at Erlanger in Chattanooga, Tennessee. His research and quality improvement efforts focus on improving neonatal outcomes in Tennessee and globally through the investigation and implementation of minimally invasive surfactant therapies, primarily the SALSA technique. He has extensive global health experience, having trained clinicians and introduced the SALSA method of surfactant administration across numerous countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia as a safe, effective alternative to neonatal endotracheal intubation. He previously served as infant medical director for the Tennessee Initiative for Perinatal Quality Care (TIPQC) and designed and led statewide projects including the deferred cord clamping initiative and the multi-year Tennessee’s Tiniest Babies project targeting improvements for neonates born less than 30 weeks’ gestation.

Pamela Harris-Haman, DNP, CRNP, NNP-BC, FAWHONN, is a neonatal nurse practitioner and educator with extensive experience in neonatal intensive care and nursing education. She is currently a neonatal nurse practitioner at Penn State Health Lancaster, PA She is also a visiting professor at Chamberlain University. Her work includes improving outcomes for infants with NAS/NOWS and global education. She has extensive global health experience involving neonatal education and improving neonatal outcomes. Dr. Harris-Haman has worked with COINN, Project Hope and is on the Penn State Global Health Advisory Board. Her QI work has centered on encouraging authorship for QI and project improvement projects.

Erik Jensen, MD, MSCE, is a neonatologist and researcher focused on improving long-term respiratory outcomes for very preterm infants. His work centers on bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), including developing evidence-based strategies to prevent and treat BPD, refining characterization of disease severity and phenotypes, and using health services research to examine how hospital-level factors influence neonatal morbidity and mortality. Dr. Jensen’s research is supported by the NHLBI, NICHD, and the American Lung Association, and he serves on the International BPD Collaborative and the International Neonatal Consortium BPD working group.

Heather C. Kaplan, MD, MSCE, is an attending neonatologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She serves as the Chief Patient Outcomes Officer at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital where she is responsible for leading a systemwide strategy to advance clinical, functional and patient‑reported outcomes. Dr. Kaplan also has a long history of leading regional and national multi-center quality improvement initiatives to improve the quality and delivery of care for high-risk infants and their families. She is widely recognized for her expertise in using data-driven, collaborative approaches to improve healthcare systems.

Laurel Kitto, MSN, RNC-NIC has been participating in VON collaboratives for over 20 years as a staff nurse, a nurse leader responsible for operations for a large NICU and, more recently, as a VON Quality Leader within the neuroprotective teams. In addition to leadership, she has extensive experience in NICU design and construction, new unit process improvement, natural disaster evacuation and transport team management.

Jonathan S. Litt, MD, MPH, ScD, iis a Neonatologist at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and, by courtesy, Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford University School of Medicine. With formal training in both social and behavioral sciences and health services research, his research program has two distinct though closely related areas of focus. The first concerns understanding the interrelationship between chronic health problems and functional outcomes among preterm infants over the life course. The second leverages population health management, value-based care, and equity-focused quality improvement approaches to developing innovative models of post-discharge care.

Khorshid Mohammad, MD, MSc, FABP, FRCP, FRCPC is a Staff Neonatologist and Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Calgary, where he serves as Neonatology Site Lead at Alberta Children's Hospital and Director of the Harvey Sarnat Neonatal Neuro-Critical Care Fellowship. He established Calgary's Neonatal Neuro-Critical Care program in 2014 and is a founding member of the Newborn Brain Society and the SCAN program. His work spans brain perfusion, neuromonitoring, and quality improvement, with neuroprotection strategies that have reduced mortality and brain injury in premature and asphyxiated infants. He received the AFMC John Ruedy Award for Innovation in Medical Education in 2026.

Mindy Morris is an NNP and CNS with 40 years of neonatal and quality improvement experience. As

her career evolved, it became increasingly focused on improving care for the most premature

infants and their families. She is a faculty member for the Vermont Oxford Network and CPQCC

Quality Improvement Collaboratives. She is currently a consultant and enthusiastic QI specialist.

Kate Morrow is the Assistant Director of Data Science at Vermont Oxford Network, a nonprofit, voluntary worldwide community of practice dedicated to improving the quality, safety, and value of care for newborns, with over 1,400 members in over 40 countries, where she is responsible for data collection and reporting. She is a graduate of Saint Michael’s College and holds a master’s degree in statistics from the University of Vermont.

Amy Nyberg is the March of Dimes NICU Family Support® Program Coordinator at Corewell Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI. A mother of surviving triplets born at 24 weeks who spent four months in the NICU, she brings lived experience to her work supporting families and improving neonatal care. With nearly 26 years in the field, Amy specializes in NICU quality improvement and family support. She is an active Vermont Oxford Network (VON) family faculty member and serves as Quality Leader for the NICQ POD Pain and Pokes Homeroom, advancing outcomes for premature and critically ill infants.

Alexa O'Dell is a dedicated advocate for family engagement in neonatal care and quality improvement. Her connection to this work began in 2006 with the unexpected delivery of her twin daughters at 24 weeks' gestation. During her family's four month NICU journey across three neonatal intensive care units, Alexa learned her surviving daughter's progress was being monitored as part of a quality improvement initiative focused on reducing noise levels. This experience highlighted the impact of quality improvement efforts on patient and family outcomes. Alexa has partnered with her local NICU since 2008 and served in faculty roles with VON since 2011.

Jochen Profit, MD, MPH, is the Wendy J. Tomlin Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University and Chair of the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative. He also serves as Chief Quality Advisor for Pediatrix Medical Group, which provides care for more than 20 percent of US births. He earned his medical degree in Freiburg, Germany, trained at Tufts University, and completed a Master of Public Health at Harvard. His work improves perinatal, neonatal, and infant care through rigorous quality improvement and innovation. He has published more than 160 manuscripts and held continuous federal research funding for over 15 years.

Erika (Gaby) Cordova Ramos, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine and a clinical neonatologist at Boston Medical Center. Her research focuses on developing perinatal care innovations to enhance the health and well-being of low-income families with high-risk infants. Dr. Cordova Ramos investigates the impact of social care interventions on critical caregiving practices, including breastfeeding, safe sleep, and skin-to-skin contact, while promoting family engagement in the NICU. She currently leads multi-site quality improvement initiatives addressing social determinants of health in the NICU, driving systemic change to support vulnerable families and improve outcomes.

Erick Ridout, MD, is a dedicated neonatologist serving families across Utah and Hawaii, a Vermont Oxford Network faculty member, and a retired Army Colonel with 23 years of service. As an early Army Medical Corps Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, he uses continuous improvement to eliminate organizational and clinical harm. A national lecturer on Just Culture and Servant Leadership, Dr. Ridout passionately advocates for team-based, family-centered care. His mission is to transform medicine so caregivers feel safe, valued, and loved, ensuring healthcare teams return to the bedside fully engaged to deliver care for patients, never to them.

Elizabeth Rogers, MD, is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, where she practiced neonatology in the Intensive Care Nursery for more than 15 years and served as the inaugural Director of the ROOTS Program and The Grove Small Baby Unit. Her clinical and scholarly expertise includes preterm birth, neuroprotection, health equity, metabolic predictors of outcomes after preterm birth, and long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes after neonatal critical illness. She serves as faculty on statewide and national quality improvement collaboratives, has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, and chairs the Board of Global Strategies, focused on improving neonatal and pediatric health through point-of-care decision support and workforce strengthening.

Matthew Rysavy, MD, PhD is an associate professor and Director of Learning Healthcare in the Division of Neonatology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. He founded and co-chairs the international Tiny Baby Collaborative. His publications on care and outcomes of the most premature infants have informed international guidelines and his work serves as the basis for the NICHD-VON Extremely Preterm Birth Outcome Tool. He lives in Houston, Texas with his wife, Mary, an obstetrician, and daughters.

Jan Schriefer, MBA, MSN, DrPH is an Associate Professor in Pediatrics and Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. Dr. Schriefer’s primary faculty appointment is in the Department of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine. Jan is a Quality Scholar in the Quality Institute and also an Inductee in the Academy of Educators. Dr. Schriefer is the Director of Collaborative Partnerships for Quality and Safety and a Senior Process Improvement Specialist on the Operations Excellence team. Jan and her husband John are proud parents of their NICU Grad Madeline.

Thiviya Selvanathan, MD, PhD is a pediatric and neonatal neurologist and clinician scientist at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Selvanathan’s research uses advanced neuroimaging techniques to explore the impacts of early-life brain injury and NICU clinical care on brain development in preterm infants and neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Her work extends to investigating long-term brain health in children who have experienced neonatal brain injury, with a goal to enhance child health outcomes.

Grant Shafer, MD, is a neonatologist and physician scientist at CHOC Children’s Hospital whose work focuses on improving diagnostic accuracy and patient safety in neonatal intensive care. He is an Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Improvement Advisor and completed neonatal-perinatal fellowship training at Texas Children’s Hospital. Dr. Shafer has published research on diagnostic error disclosure in journals including JAMA Pediatrics. His work examines how healthcare systems influence clinical decision-making and outcomes for NICU patients. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English literature from Wayne State University, his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati, and completed pediatrics residency at UT Southwestern.

Ginny Shaffer is the NICU Family Centered Care Program Coordinator at Providence Alaska Children’s Hospital and faculty for the Vermont Oxford Network. A mother of 23-week twins, Ginny’s personal experience profoundly shapes her work—honoring Bryson’s memory while celebrating Holland’s thriving life. She is a champion of family-centered care, leading quality improvement efforts, supporting every NICU family at the bedside, and creating meaningful programs, events, and keepsakes. Ginny has driven initiatives such as kangaroo care and awareness campaigns, helping transform policies and practices to better support families. Her compassion and leadership make her an invaluable member of the NICU team.

Deb Sims, PhD, RNC-NIC, has 35 years of NICU experience in clinical care and leadership. She has partnered with families throughout her career, from coordinating unit QI work to leading the creation of a new single room NICU. Her PhD dissertation focus compared parent education methods for adolescent fathers. In addition to her current quality leader role for the Parental Wellbeing and Health Equity homeroom, she taught Experience-Based Co-Design for VON teams wanting to focus more deeply on partnering with families in QI. Deb is also an adjunct professor for the University of Providence and provides nursing expertise for a prominent AI lab.

Roger Soll, MD, is the H. Wallace Professor of Neonatology at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine and serves as Senior Advisor to both the Vermont Oxford Network and the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Thematic Group of the Cochrane Collaboration. An authority in evidence-based medicine and randomized clinical trials, Dr. Soll has authored numerous systematic reviews, peer-reviewed publications, and book chapters focused on neonatal interventions and evidence-based medicine. He earned his degree in Genetics and History of Science from Cornell University, received his MD from Chicago Medical School, and completed fellowship training in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at the University of Vermont, where he has remained since 1983.

Alex Stevenson, MD, is Director of Global Health at Vermont Oxford Network, co-PI of the African Neonatal Network, past president of the African Neonatal Association and a neonatologist based in Harare, Zimbabwe. He trained in Cape Town and Zimbabwe. His interests focus on trying to improve the care for African neonates as quickly as possible by setting up good data systems and improving quality of care. A practicing neonatologist, he is particularly interested in neonatal haemodynamics.

Karen Thomas, MD, FRCPC is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster University. Dually trained in Neonatology and Developmental Pediatrics, Dr. Thomas is a Neonatologist and the Director of the Neonatal Follow-Up Clinic at McMaster Children’s Hospital. Her clinical and academic interests align, with a focus on optimizing functional outcomes of NICU graduates through early identification and intervention.

Mike Toomey is the Member Services Manager at Vermont Oxford Network, where he works with the other members of the VON Account Management and Support Teams to ensure that users at VON member centers have access to and training on all VON resources, tools, and systems. Together with VON’s Account Managers and Technical Support Specialists, Mike helps member centers’ teams understand and submit infants’ data and leverage that data through VON reporting to improve patient care and outcomes.

Lelis Vernon is an award-winning healthcare strategy consultant, international speaker, and published author with nearly two decades of experience in maternal and infant health systems improvement. Originally from Argentina, she brings a multicultural perspective to her work, informed by her journey as a NICU parent to 25-week twins, she specializes in bridging clinical quality with family-centered care. Lelis is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences and serves as guest faculty at Harvard Medical School’s Safety, Quality, Informatics, and Leadership program on Patient and Family Engagement in Quality Improvement.

Leslie Young, MD is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine. As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Young’s research focuses on improving care and long-term outcomes for infants with in utero opioid exposure and their families. She participates in NIH-sponsored research initiatives, including ACT-NOW, HBCD, and HELP for NOWS, and served as principal investigator for the ESC-NOW clinical trial, a multicenter study of the Eating, Sleeping, Consoling care approach. Dr. Young also collaborates with hospitals, quality collaboratives, and the Vermont Oxford Network to advance ESC implementation and support equitable care nationwide today.

Alex Zavala is a small business owner in Austin, TX, who has a passion for supporting NICU Dads. As a NICU dad to two preemie daughters, he understands firsthand the challenges that come with navigating the NICU. In 2018, he founded The NICU Dad, an online platform aimed at providing support and resources to other NICU dads going through the same experience. Alex is a member of the Dell Children’s Medical Center NICU Quality Improvement team and the Dell Children’s Medical Center PFAC. He brings his unique perspective as a NICU dad to these roles, advocating for improvements in care and support for families.

John A. Zupancic, MD, ScD, is Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Associate Chief of Neonatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. His work focuses on improving how healthcare resources are used to advance outcomes for newborns, including economic evaluation alongside neonatal clinical trials and decision modeling to guide best practice. He has contributed to numerous epidemiologic and health services investigations and is active in neonatal quality improvement initiatives. Dr. Zupancic is a recognized mentor and leader in neonatal research, education, and collaborative quality improvement efforts.