Clinical Interests: Global newborn health; health disparities in survival and long‐term outcomes in high and low‐resource settings; role of home environment and parental mental health on newborn outcomes with a clinical emphasis on family‐centered care; continuity neonatologist for UW NICU BPD patients and families

Scholarly Focus: Dr. Krystle Perez strives to allow all newborns to reach their full developmental potential in the U.S. as well as in low‐resource settings, noting the role family wellness plays in early childhood development. Dr. Perez continues to be involved with projects in Nicaragua assessing the role of breastfeeding practices, maternal mental health, and environment of sociopolitical instability on developmental outcomes of young children. She is the PI of a study to assess the incidence of postpartum mood and anxiety disorders in the UW NICU with recent funds from the Department of Health to improve knowledge and awareness for providers and families as well as improve upon screening practices. She is involved in developing novel innovations for use in limited resource settings with Dr. Greg Valentine with ongoing collaborations with the School of Mechanical Engineering. She has ongoing collaborations to evaluate outcomes using existing data from the U.S. and internationally. Her primary interests revolve around improving newborn care and outcomes in resource‐limited settings, finding reasons and solutions behind existing outcome disparities, such as access to human breastmilk, and describing the crucial role of the family on childhood developmental outcomes.

Research Funding:

2021‐2022   “Breaking the Silence: Addressing Perinatal Mood Disorders in the NICU” Washington State Department of Health. Role: PI Total Award: $30,000

2020‐2022 H2neO: Creating an Affordable and Accessible Means to Provide Intravenous Fluids to Neonates in Low‐Resourced Settings Globally. CoMotion Innovation Gap Fund. Role: co‐I Total Award: $50,000

Administration/Education Roles: Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Health; Co‐lead of ALIGN (Advancing learning and innovation in global neonatology); BRAIN, Director of Global Public Health; Co‐lead UW NICU Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) team; Neonatal Physician Liaison for the UW NICU Parent Advisory Council; Clinical competency committee coach the pediatric residency program. She is involved with the clinical training of students, residents, physician assistants, neonatal nurse practitioners and fellows locally at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s and internationally via the training of health workers and students thru Amos in Managua, Nicaragua.