We are thrilled to announce the newest additions to Hope for HIE's Medical Advisory Board (MAB), bringing incredible depth, expertise, and heart to our growing multidisciplinary team. These seven clinicians, researchers, and advocates represent disciplines we have long sought to fill — from obstetrics and maternal-fetal medicine to neonatal nursing, neuropsychology, and beyond. We are so grateful for their commitment to improving the lives of children and families impacted by HIE, and we cannot wait for you to meet them.
Dr. Melisa Carrasco McCaul is a neurologist specializing in Fetal and Neonatal Neurology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Her clinical and research focus is on the behavioral and psychological outcomes following neonatal brain injury — bridging what happens in the NICU with the developmental trajectories families navigate in the months and years that follow. This focus on long-term outcomes is central to Hope for HIE's mission, and we are so pleased to welcome her expertise to our board.
She is the principal investigator of the TREES Lab at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, where the team is investigating long-term cognitive development of babies born with brain injuries, including HIE, and studying interventions that may improve long term outcomes.
Dr. Renée Lajiness-O'Neill is a clinical neuropsychologist and Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. With decades of experience in pediatric neuropsychology and expertise in early detection, bio-behavioral indicators, and EEG connectivity metrics, she brings a powerful long-term outcomes perspective to the board, and is a HIE parent.
She is also a key collaborator with fellow Medical Advisory Board member Dr. Seth Warschausky in PediaTrac, a longitudinal developmental tracking tool that Hope for HIE has been exploring as part of our HIE Registry work.
Dr. Christian Parobek is a Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Clinical Genetics Fellow at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, Texas. With an MD and PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the University of North Carolina and residency training in OB/GYN at Brown University's Women & Infants Hospital, he brings a rare combination of clinical MFM expertise and deep genetics knowledge to our board.
His current research focuses on the genetic contributors to HIE through the HIEnome Study at Baylor, which uses genome sequencing to explore the maternal and fetal factors that may contribute to the causes of HIE — an area of critical importance as our community works to understand not just outcomes, but origins. We are so excited to finally have obstetric and MFM representation on our board, and Dr. Parobek's genetics lens makes his perspective especially valuable.
Dr. Eric Peeples is an Associate Professor and Medical Director of the Neuroscience NICU at Children's Nebraska and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He leads the Newborn Brain Injury Lab, where his research focuses on novel neuroprotective interventions for neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy . He also serves as Co-Chair of the Newborn Brain Society Guidelines and Publications Committee and is an active member of the Children's Hospital Neonatal Consortium HIE Working Group.
Many in our community already know of Dr. Peeples. He is a core researcher in the Hope for HIE Registry, a landmark collaboration with the Cerebral Palsy Research Network and the Newborn Brain Society. He has also collaborated on exploring AI in parent education, and our educational Q&A series.
Pamela Ramirez is a NICU nurse at Texas Children's Hospital and, importantly, an HIE mom. That combination — clinical expertise and lived experience — makes her an invaluable addition to our board. Having sat in both chairs, Pamela brings a perspective that is truly irreplaceable, and we are deeply grateful she is bringing it to our work.
Mandy Sitton is a Neonatal Neuro Nurse Navigator at Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin, Texas — the first person in the country to hold this specialized role. A NICU-trained RN with deep expertise in HIE and complex neonatal neurologic conditions, she provides longitudinal, family-centered support from prenatal consultation through outpatient follow-up, coordinating care across neonatology, neurology, neurosurgery, and allied health.
She has presented at the International Newborn Brain Society Conference and the ONE Conference, and her innovative navigator model is exactly the kind of family-centered care we hope to see spread across institutions.
Dr. Pia Wintermark is a neonatologist and researcher at McGill University in Montréal, Canada, where she leads the NeobrainLab. Her work centers on neonatal brain injury, MRI neuroimaging, and the development of neuroprotective therapies for babies with HIE. She has been a key contributor to international efforts to establish common data elements for neonatal encephalopathy registries — work that will help standardize how HIE data is collected across the world.
Hope for HIE has had the privilege of collaborating with Dr. Wintermark and the NeobrainLab for over a decade, and we are so pleased to formalize that longstanding partnership by welcoming her to the board.
We are so grateful to welcome these seven individuals to the Hope for HIE Medical Advisory Board. Together with our existing board, we now have an even more comprehensive, multidisciplinary group to help guide our awareness, advocacy, education, research, and support efforts in the years ahead.
You can learn more about all of our Medical Advisory Board members below:
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