Overview

Neonatology is a rapidly evolving area in the field of pediatrics. Over the past twenty years, medical care for newborns, especially low birth-weight babies, has advanced significantly. Dr. Durand, head of the clinical research program in neonatology at CHO, expects the pace to continue for at least the next decade and attributes the rapid advance to essential interaction between clinical trials and basic research.

Durand’s clinical research focuses on newborns with severe respiratory distress. Most are premature infants, but trials have looked at term babies with respiratory failure as well. Over the last ten years, he has investigated a wide range of therapeutic interventions in studies based at CHO and in multi-center collaborative trials.

For the last several years, Durand has been principal investigator in a multi-center trial comparing different modes of ventilation in very low birth-weight babies. Investigators have completed enrollment of approximately 500 babies in twenty-six nurseries across the country and are now analyzing the results. A two-year neurodevelopmental follow-up study, funded by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, is currently underway.

Durand is also principal investigator for a NIH-funded multi-center trial investigating administration of nitric oxide to premature babies for prevention of chronic lung disease. His group is also participating in an international trial based in the United Kingdom, which studies cerebral cooling (lowering brain temperature by a few degrees) to decrease the sequelae of asphyxia. Durand plans to continue exploring ways to care for infants with respiratory failure, focusing on types of ventilatory support and pharmacological interventions.