Dr. Steven Miller is Professor and Head, Dept of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, Chief Pediatric Medicine at BC Children’s Hospital & Sunny Hill Health Centre.  He is an Affiliate Professor, Dept of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto and Adjunct Senior Scientist at SickKids Research Institute.  Collaborating with a multidisciplinary team, Dr. Miller’s research program focuses on better understanding brain injury and development in the newborn. He and his team use advanced brain imaging and detailed long-term follow-up to help children who were born early or with conditions that put them at risk of neurological and developmental deficits. He has contributed to our understanding of brain abnormalities caused directly by premature birth, perinatal asphyxia or indirectly by congenital heart disease.

Dr. Vann Chau is a Paediatric Neurologist at The Hospital for Sick Children. He is the Principle Investigator of the Paediatric Cardiac and Neurological Registry study currently ongoing. His research interest are studying brain injury and its effect on long term outcome in both premature infants and neonates with congenital heart disease.

Dr. Linh Ly is a staff neonatologist and Medical Director of the Neonatal Neurodevelopmental Follow-Up Clinic at The Hospital for Sick Children. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto.  Her research focus is in neurodevelopmental outcomes of high risk neonates with acquired brain injury, congenital heart disease or born extremely preterm.

Dr. Amr El Shahed has special interest in brain health, follow-up, and neurodevelopmental outcome of preterm infants and neonates with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Dr. El Shahed works on enhancing brain monitoring in newborns at risk for brain injury and optimizing developmental assessment and support in the Neonatal Neurodevelopmental follow up Clinic. His research is focused on studying: hemodynamics and cerebral oxygenation in neonates with HIE, pattern of brain injury and evaluation of different prognostic utilities in HIE. Dr. El Shahed studies the changes in cerebral oxygenation and cardiac function during hypothermia and rewarming in neonates with HIE. He is studying the association between cardiovascular biomarkers and inotropic drugs and outcome in neonates with HIE aiming to establish optimum hemodynamic targets in this population. He is planning to study the effect of postnatal steroids on cerebral and splanchnic oxygenation in preterm infants.

Dr. Mehmet Nevzat Çizmeci is a staff neonatologist at SickKids and Assoc. professor of pediatrics at the University of Toronto. Mehmet graduated from Istanbul University Medical School in 2004 and after completing his pediatric residency and neonatology fellowship training in 2013, he started a research fellowship in neonatal neurology and PhD in neuroscience at Utrecht University in 2017. He joined the neonatal neurology team at SickKids as a clinical fellow in 2019 and received the Royal College Subspecialty Fellow Excellence Award. He then completed a further 2-year clinical/research fellowship as the Dr. Karen Pape Fellow in Neuroplasticity at SickKids and received his PhD degree in clinical and experimental neuroscience in 2022. Mehmet has a strong commitment to research and teaching. His research interests are optimizing treatment in neonatal hemorrhagic brain injury as well as understanding trajectories of neuronal plasticity, neuromodulation, and accurately predicting childhood neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Using a patient-oriented research approach, Dr. Williams’s research program examines child neuropsychological outcomes and parent experiences following early brain injury. Dr. Williams and her team are currently evaluating an innovative eHealth parent intervention program targeting mental health needs reported by families.

Dr. Rhandi Christensen is a Staff Pediatric Neurologist and Assistant Professor, with subspecialty training in Neonatal Neurology. She completed Medical School, Residency in Pediatric Neurology and Fellowship in Neonatal Neurology, all at the University of Toronto. She completed a PhD in Neuroscience at McMaster University as a Vanier Scholar.

Dr. Christensen’s research interests include studying neurodevelopmental outcomes and neuroprognostication in children born preterm, and children with neonatal brain injury. More specifically, her research aims to identify genetic and epigenetic predictors of brain injury, as well as cognitive, language and motor outcomes following preterm birth or early-life brain injury. She seeks to integrate genetic risk with established clinical predictors to provide individualized neuroprognostication and deliver targeted clinical care for children born preterm or with neonatal brain injury.

Dr. Stephanie Au-Young completed her PhD studies in the esteemed Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University, where she honed her expertise in molecular and cellular biology. Following her doctoral studies, she pursued a Post-doctoral Fellowship at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, a leading centre for biomedical research, where she deepened her knowledge and further developed her expertise in advanced medical sciences and clinical applications.  Building on this academic foundation, she earned her degree as a Clinical Research Associate and currently serves as a key member of the NeoNs Lab. In this capacity, she coordinates a wide array of research studies, spanning Neurology, Cardiology, Neonatology and Psychology.  Her responsibilities include overseeing study-related procedures, compliance with research ethics, and managing study recruitment efforts.  Her current research endeavours are focused on enhancing neurodevelopmental outcomes for children born prematurely or with congenital heart disease.

Daphne completed her Honours BSc (Biochemistry and Psychology double major) from the University of Toronto, MSc degree (Neuroscience) from the University of Ottawa and holds a Certified Clinical Research Professional designation.  Daphne has been working in clinical and basic research since 2004, in fields including neuroscience, psychology, biology, and chemistry, employing humans and various model organisms (rodents and drosophila).  Since January 2013, Daphne has been working with Dr. Tam on various multi-centred studies that investigate modifiable risk factors for brain injury and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm and term neonates.

Dr. Brahmdeep Saini is the research program manager for Dr. Seed’s Lab.  His research focuses on advancing the assessment of placental and fetal health using advanced cardiovascular MRI techniques. During his PhD, he developed and validated an MRI-based approach to quantify placental function in healthy human and sheep pregnancies by measuring oxygen transport and consumption. In his current role, he is investigating the performance of this MRI-based approach in assessing placental function in pregnancies affected by various placental hemodynamic impairments, including placental insufficiency and invasive placentation. Through MRI research his aim is to establish a basis for a non-invasive approach to measure placental function during pregnancy, thereby enhancing clinical diagnosis, decision-making, and the accuracy of fetal health monitoring. Additionally, he supports other clinical and pre-clinical research projects in the lab, which span congenital heart disease and neurodevelopment including CHILD-BRIGHT Phase 2, cardiovascular physiology in a fetal sheep model of human pregnancy, and the development of an artificial placenta in a fetal pig model.

Dr. Alan Cooper is the research core coordinator for CHILD-BRIGHT, a pan-Canadian patient-oriented research network studying brain-based developmental disorders. Alan is interested in the fundamental mechanisms of nervous system development and research administration. He obtained his PhD (Neuroscience) under the supervision of Deda Gillespie at McMaster University, where he studied the refinement of inhibitory circuitry in the developing auditory brainstem.

Vanna is a Paediatric Nurse Practitioner in the Cardiac Neurodevelopment and Neonatal Neurology Programs at SickKids. She completed her master’s degree and Nurse Practitioner certificate at the University of Toronto. Her research interests focus on improving neurodevelopmental outcomes in patients with congenital heart disease.

Giselle is one of the Clinical Research Nurse Coordinators in the NeoNs Lab. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from York University. She has been employed by SickKids since 2008 and has been with the NeoNs Lab since 2014. She also works part-time in the NICU as a bedside RN. Her role in the studies include coordinating and executing safe transport of neonates to and from MRI, and collecting comprehensive patient information from medical records.

Steven completed his Master’s degree in the Department of Physics at the University of Toronto. He performs brain image analysis with a focus on diffusion and functional MRI. He is passionate about high-performance computing, using a range of techniques including deep learning and graph theory analysis.

Dr. Davide Marini is Paediatric Cardiologist who joined the team in 2016. He studies the impact of congenital heart diseases on brain development in fetuses and newborns by using the MR technology. He completed his medical and pediatric training at the University of Verona, in Italy, where he also obtained a PhD in Multimodal Imaging. He has worked as pediatric radiologist and cardiologist in Paris, France at the Hôpital Necker Enfantes Malades, in Rome, at the Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù and in Turin at the Ospedale Infantile Regina Margherita, both in Italy.

Marta is a staff neonatologist at La Paz University Hospital (Madrid, Spain) and a Neonatal Neurology Fellow at the Hospital for Sick Children. Her career path during these past years as a Neonatologist in a third level hospital has led her to specialize in advanced neonatal cranial Doppler ultrasonography. Neurodevelopmental impairment prediction based on neuroimaging tools is her current field of research.

Micheline is a Neonatal Neurology Fellow and MSc student at the Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto, supported by the Clinician Investigator Program from the University of British Columbia. She completed her pediatric neurology residency training at the University of British Columbia and her medical school at the Université de Montréal. Based on her interest in neuroprognostication and neurodevelopmental outcomes, her fellowship research project focuses on cortical visual outcomes following neonatal encephalopathy and dysglycemia.

Ivan completed his pediatric neurology residency in The Technical Institute and Superior Studies of Monterrey (ITESM), in Monterrey, Mexico. He started to work as pediatric neurologist staff in a third level hospital since 2014, including teaching for residents in Pediatric Neurology. He also worked as professor in ITESM’s School of Medicine since 2017. His is currently doing his clinical fellowship in Neonatal Neurology at the Hospital for Sick Children. His current research focus is in the study of neonatal seizures in patients with perinatal asphyxia.

Michelle Ira holds a Bachelor of Science in Honours Life Sciences from McMaster University. In the NeoNs Lab, she helps coordinate several research projects focused on the neurodevelopmental outcomes of premature infants and children with congenital heart disease. Michelle Ira’s work supports the lab’s efforts to better understand the long-term effects of early medical conditions on brain development in this population. Her research interests are neurodevelopment, psychology and evidence-based practices supporting children’s development.

Aranni is a new graduate Registered Nurse in the Cardiac Critical Care Nursing Residency Program at SickKids. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Toronto Metropolitan University. In the NeoNs lab, Aranni assists with data collection and analysis, contributing to studies focused on understanding the neurodevelopmental outcomes in premature infants with congenital heart disease.