Our goal is to improve the health and development of preterm and critically ill infants.  We study how the environment of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and simple caregiving procedures, such as changing diapers or having blood tests, affects preterm and critically ill infants' development.  We have designed new, more accurate ways to assess the impact of procedures and are testing new, natural treatments which protect the developing brain in these vulnerable infants.  Our program is family centred; not only do we study the infants in the NICU, but we also include mothers and fathers in our research. 

Infants cared for in the NICU may need procedures, such as surgery, and minor painful procedures, such as taking blood tests.  We are learning more from animal studies and preterm infant studies which show that infants who experience stressful events in early life have changes in how they perceive and respond to pain and stress as they grow.  We are working together with doctors, nurses and others to find the best ways to care for these infants, ways which provide an optimal beginning for these babies and their families.

• Preterm infant development
• Stress physiology
• Immunity
• Pain assessment and management