Our mission is to provide compassionate, quality care and catalyze impactful research, education, and advocacy to improve outcomes for newborns everywhere. We do this within an inclusive community that cultivates diverse teams to do meaningful work.
Our vision is the best care for every baby, every family, every time.
Learn More about our Work in our Annual Report
Our Neonatology Division faculty staff nine Neonatal Intensive Care Units around the Puget Sound region, and support four regional sites with medical direction and telehealth services. We’re committed to advancing the quality of care for every patient. At clinical sites, our team is engaged in supporting families through newborn care, expanding access to donor breast milk, and quality improvement initiatives to improve outcomes for premature and critically ill infants.
Clinically Staffed NICUs
- Seattle Children’s, Seattle (Level IV)
- UW Medical Center - Montlake, Seattle (Level IV)
- Providence Regional Medical Center, Everett (Level III)
- St. Joseph Medical Center, Tacoma (Level III)
- UW Medicine/Valley Medical Center, Renton (Level II)
- Virginia Mason Franciscan Health (St. Francis Hospital, Federal Way, Level III; St. Michael Medical Center, Silverdale, Level II; St. Anne Hospital, Burien, Level II)
- UW Medical Center - Northwest, Seattle (Level II)
Our team also provides clinical support and consultation through various programs across the five-state WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho) region, including medical direction and telehealth services for NICUs in Bellingham, Olympia, Wenatchee, and Mount Vernon.
Clinical Support
- Neonatal Consultation and Transport Program
The division provides 24/7 neonatal consultation services across the WWAMI region to help safely transport critically ill patients to Seattle Children’s and affiliated locations for care.
- Telemedicine Program
Since 2019, a dedicated team has provided neonatal teleconsultation services region-wide.
- Prenatal Diagnosis Programs
More than 1000 patients are seen annually for fetal imaging and multidisciplinary counseling by our specialists, nurses, genetic counselor, and prenatal social worker.
- Neuro-NICU Program
Our team supports the neonatal neurocritical care program at Seattle Children’s, a specialized service to improve the care and outcome of critically ill newborns with neurological and/or neurosurgical problems.
- Infant Development Followup-up Clinic
Division faculty see infants in the Infant Development Follow-Up Clinic (IDFC) at the UW Institute on Human Development & Disability, which provides interdisciplinary neurodevelopmental assessments for infants at risk for developmental differences.
- Regional Neonatology Outreach Program
Since the 1980s, our neonatal outreach program has helped address neonatal training needs, supported interested level II centers to become level III centers, and built referral relationships across the region.
Our team studies how different treatments and practices affect newborn health locally and globally. Our research helps shape safer, more effective therapies and practices for preemies and severely ill infants, and includes expertise in neuroscience, medical education, neonatal-perinatal health, and ethics.
Research Programs
- Neonatal Education and Simulation Training (NEST) program
Researchers in the NEST program use cutting-edge technology and training methods to educate providers and improve care for newborns across the region.
- Ethical Decision-Making in Neonatal Care
Our division is highly active in bioethics scholarship, leading research to support families and providers through complex choices and advancing thoughtful, compassionate care. We also collaborate extensively with scholars from the University of Washington Department of Bioethics and Humanities and the Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics & Palliative Care.
- Global Neonatal Medicine (ALIGN)
Most small and sick newborns are born in places with limited resources and face serious challenges to survival and healthy development. Our ALIGN faculty have active projects in Ethiopia, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, representing the largest group of global health neonatologists in the U.S. Their work aims to improve newborn care around the world through innovation, education, and advocacy.
- Microbial Interactions, Nutrition, and Development (MIND)
The MIND research team explores how nutrition, especially human milk, and the microbiome shape a baby’s growth and brain development.
- Neonatal Neuroscience Laboratory and Brain Research Advancement in Neonatology (BRAIN)
We have multiple research teams dedicated to protecting newborn brain development, looking at therapies like cooling (hypothermia) and exploring biochemical markers to guide future treatments. Our landmark trials have advanced understanding of anemia, iron supplementation, antibiotic use, and prognostic factors like imaging, EEG, and medication effects—leading to safer, more effective NICU care.
- Translational, Clinical, and Quality Improvement Research
The Outcomes Research Collaborative is dedicated to improving the health and healthcare received by neonates in our units locally, regionally and nationally. Our diverse group performs innovative research in the fields of neonatal epidemiology and pharmacoepidemiology. Our division has established a local Quality Improvement Microsystem at Children’s and a larger Regional Quality Improvement Program that oversees collaborative QI work done across all our NICUs in the region.
- Neonatal Pulmonary Physiology
Despite notable progress in both survival and associated morbidity with premature birth, limited progress has been made in reducing rates of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Our research in translation models of pulmonary disease provides insight into basic mechanisms and optimal management of disease, and novel work in resuscitation models influences resuscitation algorithms at birth.
- Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH)
The Seattle Children’s Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Program offers more specialized care than any other children’s hospital in the Pacific Northwest. Our faculty are involved in research to improve care, outcomes, and quality of life for children born with a CDH, including work with other centers across the nation.
Our division is dedicated to training and supporting the next generation of neonatologists to be exemplary clinicians, passionate researchers, and future leaders in our field.
Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship
Our Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Program supports three fellows per year, providing specialized training and mentoring at UW and Seattle Children’s. The fellowship has seven unique tracks available which consolidate resources and opportunities in an area of scholarly focus.
Neonatal Neurocritical Care Fellowship
Our Neonatal Neurocritical Care Fellowship, in partnership with UW Neurology, is the only program of its kind in the Pacific Northwest, and provides specialized training to care for critically ill newborns with neurological conditions.
Neonatal Neurocritical Care Fellowship
Pediatric Residency Program
Pediatric residents at UW receive bedside teaching from our faculty, fellows, and advanced neonatal practitioners during their NICU rotations, and our division trains all pediatric interns in the Newborn Resuscitation Program.
Taylor L Sawyer, DO, MEd, MBA
Division Head and William Alan Hodson Endowed Chair of Neonatology Professor
Maneesh Batra, MD, MPH
Professor Adjunct Professor, Global Health Associate Division Head, Faculty Affairs and Wellness
Rachel A Umoren, MB, ChB, MS
Professor Associate Division Head, Research Medical Director, Inpatient Telehealth, Seattle Children’s Hospital Adjunct Professor, Division of Healthcare Simulation Science & Department of Global Health
Megan Mariner Gray, MD
Associate Professor Program Director, Neonatal‐Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Training Program Associate Division Head of Education Co-Director, NEST Program
Christina M Long, DO
Clinical Professor Associate Division Head, Clinical Operations Medical Director, NICU, Valley Medical Center Director of Newborn Services, Valley Medical Center Chief, Department of Pediatrics, Valley Medical Center
Ivana Brajkovic, MD, MPH
Clinical Assistant Professor Associate Division Head of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism
1959 NE Pacific St.
Box 356320, RR542 HSB
Seattle WA 98195-6320
Tel (206) 543-3200
Fax (206) 543-8926
neonatologyadmin@uw.edu