Faculty
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Honors and Recognition
Contact
Address
Pediatric NeonatologyAcademic Office Building
2450 Riverside Ave S AO-401
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Bio
Dana E. Johnson, MD, PhD, is Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatology. He earned his MD, and a PhD in Anatomy, served his internship and residency, and completed his neonatology fellowship at the University of Minnesota. In addition to attending on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Dr. Johnson founded the International Adoption Clinic at the University of Minnesota. His research interests include the effects of early institutionalization on growth and development and the outcomes of internationally adopted children. Dr. Johnson has published extensively, most recently in Early Human Development, Infants and Young Children and Journal of the American Medical Association, in addition to over one hundred abstracts. He is an invited speaker worldwide. Dr. Johnson founded the International Adoption Clinic, the first of its kind, in 1986. He and his staff received the "Friend of Children Award" from the North American Council on Adoptable Children in 2002.
Clinical Summary
Neonatology; Internationally adopted children
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Contact
Address
Pediatric NeonatologyAcademic Office Building
2450 Riverside Ave S AO-401
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Bio
Dr. Johnson Rolfes completed medical school at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and pediatric residency at the University of California, San Diego. She also holds a Certificate in Pediatric Bioethics from the Children's Mercy Hospital Bioethics Center in Kansas City, MO. In addition to her clinical work caring for babies and their families in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Dr. Johnson Rolfes helps to enhance the education of medical students, residents and fellows through several simulation programs and bioethics curriculum initiatives, and is a member of the University of Minnesota Ethics Committee. She is a part of several on-going research projects in the NICU, including a study investigating what values or guiding principles parents are using when making medical care decisions for their extremely premature babies. She hopes that this insight will allow more directed counseling and improved communication between providers and families, to maximize collaborative partnership.
Research Summary
Dr. Johnson Rolfes has a research interest in the general field of pediatric bioethics. Specifically, she is investigating how healthcare providers' communication with and support of parents and families impacts the care and developmental outcomes of preterm infants.
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Contact
Address
Pediatric NeonatologyAcademic Office Building
2450 Riverside Ave S AO-401
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Bio
Dr. Rachel Koski specializes in newborn ICU care which involves premature and full term infants. She received her medical training out towards the east coast including her Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Program at the University of Connecticut. Since completing her training, she now returns to Minnesota as her family is originally from the Twin Cities area.
Dr. Koski's academic interests involve scientific research with neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. She focuses her work in the lab on possible neuroprotectant factors that can possibly be beneficial to infants with this brain injury. She is excited to be at the University of Minnesota to continue her research!
Research Summary
Dr. Koski's research interest includes neuroprotectant factors for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Honors and Recognition
Contact
Address
Pediatric NeonatologyAcademic Office Building
2450 Riverside Ave S AO-401
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Administrative Contact
Jennifer Beckman
Administrative Email: jbeckman@umn.edu
Administrative Fax Number: 612-624-8176
Clinical Summary
Neurodevelopment; HPA axis; Educational development; Simulation based education.
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Honors and Recognition
Contact
Address
Pediatric NeonatologyAcademic Office Building
2450 Riverside Ave S AO-401
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Bio
Katie Pfister, MD is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatology. She received her medical training at Vanderbilt University and the University of Minnesota. Dr. Pfister is the Associate Director of the MHealth Fairview Southdale and Ridges Neonatal Intensive Care Units. In addition to attending on the NICU, she sees high-risk NICU patients in follow-up clinic to help optimize neurodevelopmental outcomes. Her research interests include using electrophysiology as an early marker of development in at-risk populations.
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Contact
Address
Pediatric NeonatologyAcademic Office Building
2450 Riverside Ave S AO-401
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Clinical Summary
Care of Preterm and Ill Neonates; Perinatal Bereavement and Planning For the Birth of Infants With Life Limiting Conditions
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Contact
Address
AO-401 M Academic Office BuildingMinneapolis, MN 55454-1435
Clinical Summary
Clinical research; Neurodevelopmental outcomes; Nutrition, growth, and body composition
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Honors and Recognition
Contact
Address
Pediatric NeonatologyAcademic Office Building
2450 Riverside Ave S AO-401
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Bio
Raghavendra ("Raghu") Rao, MD is a tenured Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Division of Neonatology. He earned his MD at Mysore University in India. In addition to his postgraduate training in Mangalore and Chandigarh, India, he spent a year in Pediatric Residency at the University of Minnesota before completing his Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship at the University of Minnesota. When not attending on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital, Dr. Rao is involved in research on neurodevelopment under normal and adverse perinatal conditions. Dr. Rao's research interests include early life iron deficiency, hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia and intraventricular hemorrhage. He utilizes high-field NMR spectroscopy, molecular and histochemical analyses, and metabolomic and proteomic analyses of biofluids in his research. Dr. Rao's research is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, Regenerative Medicine Minnesota and Viking Children's Fund. Dr. Rao is also a faculty member of the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain and a Senior Advising Member of the Graduate Program in Neuroscience at University of Minnesota.
Research Summary
A major focus of our research is biomarker discovery using proteomic and metabolomic analyses of paired plasma and CSF samples from nonhuman primate infants with early-life iron deficiency. Early-life iron deficiency anemia is associated with long-term neurodevelopmental impairments in human infants and does not respond to iron treatment. Our goal is to discover plasma biomarkers of impending brain dysfunction in the preanemic period that can be used for early treatment of iron deficiency in human infants. This is a collaborative project with researchers from University of Wisconsin Madison and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Our second goal is to develop novel therapeutic strategies for promoting normal brain development in adverse perinatal conditions. In this area, we are investigating umbilical cord stem cell transfusion as treatment for intraventricular hemorrhage in preterm infants, and intranasal insulin administration as treatment for neonatal hyperglycemia and perinatal iron deficiency in animal models. We collaborate with researchers from the Departments of Pediatrics, Cell Therapeutics, Neurosurgery, Psychology and the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research at the University of Minnesota, and Alzheimer's Research Center at Regions Hospital in St. Paul in these studies.
Clinical Summary
Neonatal intensive care, Neurodevelopment
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Honors and Recognition
Contact
Address
Pediatric NeonatologyAcademic Office Building
2450 Riverside Ave S AO-401
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Bio
Kari Roberts, MD, is a Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatology. She earned her MD degree at the University of Minnesota and completed her pediatric residency and neonatal-perinatal medicine fellowship at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. In addition to attending in the NICU at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital and the Special Care Nurseries at Fairview Ridges and Southdale hospitals, Dr. Roberts is involved in research regarding use of a laryngeal mask airway for surfactant administration in neonates. She is also involved in device development.
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Honors and Recognition
Contact
Address
Pediatric NeonatologyAcademic Office Building
2450 Riverside Ave S AO-401
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Bio
Katherine M. Satrom, MD is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatology. In addition to taking care of patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Dr. Satrom is involved in neurodevelopmental research in the field of neonatal jaundice. Her research aims to understand the effects of bilirubin on the developing preterm brain using molecular, metabolomic, and electrophysiologic outcomes. Dr. Satrom also has a passion for optimizing the care of neonates at risk for severe neonatal jaundice in low-resource settings from a global health perspective.
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Honors and Recognition
Contact
Address
Pediatric NeonatologyAcademic Office Building
2450 Riverside Ave S AO-401
Minneapolis, MN 55454
Education
Fellowships, Residencies, and Visiting Engagements
Licensures and Certifications
Honors and Recognition
Contact
Address
Pediatric NeonatologyAcademic Office Building
2450 Riverside Ave S AO-401
Minneapolis, MN 55454