Pediatric Critical Care Research Team | Research | Department of Pediatrics | UC Davis Health

Sara Aghamohammadi’s research interest includes long-term outcomes and standardizing care with the use of treatment protocols as related to pediatric critical care medicine. Her involvement with the Society of Critical Care Medicines PICU Liberation program has led to the development of quality improvement measures and standardization of ICU practices, such as pediatric early mobility, nursing-driven sedation protocol, and best practices for use of high-flow nasal cannula, at UC Davis Children’s Hospital.

Sara Aghamohammadi was appointed Chief Wellness Officer in July 2022 and is passionate about advocating for and supporting clinician wellbeing efforts throughout UC Davis Health. Her academic interest in medical humanities led to the integration of improv and medical education through med improv workshops and curriculum development that she hopes to expand through the health system.

Publications:

• PubMed

Zack Chaffin's main academic interest is in medical education, with a focus on residents and medical students. He also has interest in quality improvement initiatives for medically complex children.

Blair Colwell is a pediatric critical care physician who cares for children with all types of critical illness. She has interests in early mobilization in the pediatric intensive care unit, medical education and teaching, and working with a multidisciplinary and multi-professional team to provide the best care to critically ill children.

Publications:

• PubMed

Brian Goudy's academic and research interests are in pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension (PH). PH is a severe disease marked by increased pressure in the blood vessels within the lungs. Particularly common in premature infants and those with congenital heart disease, longstanding untreated pulmonary hypertension leads to respiratory and heart failure. As director of the pediatric pulmonary hypertension program at UC Davis, Brian Goudy helps evaluate and manage children with this debilitating illness. The multidisciplinary pulmonary hypertension team includes members from pediatric cardiology, pulmonology, neonatology, critical care, cardiothoracic surgery, and pharmacy.

Publications:

• PubMed

Moonjoo Han’s research interests are in pediatric sepsis, which is a medical emergency caused by the body’s dysregulated immune response to an infection. Moonjoo Han collaborates with other pediatric critical care medicine researchers on multi-center trials.

Publications:

• PubMed

Sara Haynes is an epidemiologist whose research focuses on developing and evaluating telehealth interventions for chronic disease management. Her research has included work on remote patient monitoring for heart failure and telemedicine use for pediatric asthma and diabetes care, among many other topics. She uses both quantitative and qualitative research methods and employs dissemination and implementation science approaches in her work.

Publications:

• PubMed

John Holcroft's clinical interests are Non-invasive ventilation and Transport Medicine.

Publications:

• PubMed

Jennifer Lee’s academic interests include medical simulation and quality improvement/patient safety.

Michelle Lim's research is focused on the study of pathophysiological mechanisms of pediatric multi-organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and acute respiratory syndrome (ARDS). She is currently studying the role of the RAGE-axis in critical illness.

Publications:

• PubMed

James Marcin conducts research in pediatric telemedicine and quality of care, particularly as it relates to acutely ill and injured children in the Emergency Department and the Intensive Care Unit. He leads research in telemedicine, and how telemedicine can improve quality of care and reduce medication errors among children with a variety of diseases. James Marcin also conducts research in quality of care using large patient databases.

Publications:

• PubMed

Stephanie Mateev is pediatric critical care physician providing care to children with a multitude of illnesses such as sepsis, respiratory failure, traumatic brain injury, congenital heart disease, post-operative care. She is dedicated to improving outcomes of critically ill children by providing excellent direct clinical care, and education to trainees and staff.

Publications:

• PubMed

Theresa Murdock-Vlautin's research interests are in advancing medical school education in regards to clinical skills teaching and assessment throughout the four year curriculum. In addition, bridging and advancing knowledge and resources in pediatric palliative care in Northern California.

Publications:

• PubMed

JoAnne Natale conducts research aimed on improving quality of care, including optimizing processes of care and health equity for critically ill and injured children. In addition,  she and collaborators at UC Davis, are participating in a multicenter collaboration to elucidate the relationship between Kawasaki Disease and Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children.

Publications:

• PubMed

Ryan Palapaz is interested in optimizing the postoperative management of patients undergoing surgical repair for congenital heart disease through quality improvement measures. He is also interested in the education of medical students, residents, and fellows.

Katherine Phelps's academic interests include interdisciplinary team dynamics and quality improvement of systems.

Erin Platter is interested in improving critical pediatric patient care through simulation-based education and quality improvement initiatives. She specializes in post-operative cardiac critical care and focuses on protocol development, quality improvement and multidisciplinary medical education.

Publications:

• PubMed

Jennifer Plant's academic focus is medical education, specifically curriculum development and assessment in the student clerkship and post-clerkship years as well as research related to self-assessment, reflection, and the appreciative inquiry approach.

Publications:

• PubMed

Viyeka Sethi is an intensive care physician specializing in care of critically ill children as well as children with cardiac disease. She has a special interest in ECMO, bronchoscopy, point of care ultrasound and continuous renal replacement therapies.

Publications:

• PubMed

Heather Siefkes’ primary research interests include machine learning in healthcare, critical congenital heart disease screening and pulse oximetry accuracy. She collaborates with engineers at UC Davis and other institutions for this research and her work has led to patent applications for UC Davis.

Publications:

• PubMed

Jessica Signoff's academic interests include graduate medical education, interprofessional education and teamwork.

Publications:

• PubMed