PhD Student Ralphe and Brandon Submit SNRS Fellowship Application

Kudos to Jane Ralphe, PhD student; and her sponsor Debra Brandon, associate professor; for the submission of her SNRS Fellowship application entitled "Exploring the Association between Longitudinal Body Temperature Instability and Respiratory Morbidity in the Very Premature Infant. " This proposal requests funds for a one-year period with a start date of May 1, 2019. 

With an incidence rate of about 50 percent, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is the number one complication of the very low birthweight (VLBW) infant (<1500 g). BPD is the abnormal development of alveoli and lung vasculature following premature birth.  It can double the cost of an infant’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stay, and is associated with additional morbidities such as: developmental disability, growth retardation, and asthma.  BPD is multifactorial in etiology, and while both hypothermia and hyperthermia in the early hours of life have been implicated in the development of BPD, the association between longitudinal body temperature instability and respiratory morbidity has yet to be examined. Furthermore, the respiratory care interventions (RCIs) (e.g. suctioning, surfactant administration) essential to the survival of these infants can impact infant body temperatures; however, the degree of impact is unknown.  Therefore, the purpose of this mixed-methods, multiple case secondary analysis of 22 VLBW infants is to: 1) Examine the relationship between episodes of body temperature instability, during the first two weeks of life, and acute and chronic respiratory morbidity prior to discharge from the NICU; 2) Examine the temporal relationship between body temperatures and RCIs over the first five days of life.