The Incubator

Send us Fan Mail

Azithromycin therapy for prevention of chronic lung disease of prematurity (AZTEC): a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

Lowe J, Gillespie D, Aboklaish A, Lau TMM, Consoli C, Babu M, Goddard M, Hood K, Klein N, Thomas-Jones E, Turner M, Hubbard M, Marchesi J, Berrington J, Kotecha S.Lancet Respir Med. 2024 Aug;12(8):608-618. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(24)00079-1. Epub 2024 Apr 25.PMID: 38679042 Free article. Clinical Trial. 

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

Funisitis increases the risk of death or cerebral palsy in extremely preterm infants.

Jain VG, Parikh NA, Rysavy MA, Shukla VV, Saha S, Hintz S, Jobe A, Carlo WA, Ambalavanan N; Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD Neonatal Research Network.Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2025 

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

Cord Blood Treatment for Children With Cerebral Palsy: Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis.

Finch-Edmondson M, Paton MCB, Webb A, Reza Ashrafi M, Blatch-Williams RK, Cox CS Jr, Crompton K, Griffin AR, Kim M, Kosmach S, Kurtzberg J, Nouri M, Ri Suh M, Sun J, Zarrabi M, Novak I.Pediatrics. 2025 Apr 11:e2024068999. doi: 10.1542/peds.2024-068999. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40210215

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

Lung Recruitment Before Surfactant Administration in Extremely Preterm Neonates: 2-Year Follow-Up of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Gallini F, De Rose DU, Iuliano R, Romeo DM, Tana M, Paladini A, Fusco FP, Nobile S, Cota F, Tirone C, Aurilia C, Lio A, Esposito A, Costa S, D'Andrea V, Ventura ML, Carnielli V, Dani C, Mosca F, Fumagalli M, Scarpelli G, Giordano L, Fasolato V, Petrillo F, Betta P, Solinas A, Gitto E, Gargano G, Mescoli G, Martinelli S, Di Fabio S, Bernardo I, Tina LG, Staffler A, Stasi I, Mondello I, Scapillati E, Vedovato S, Maffei G, Bove A, Vitaliti M, Terrin G, Lago P, Gizzi C, Strozzi C, Villani PE, Berardi A, Cacace C, Bracaglia G, Pascucci E, Cools F, Pillow JJ, Polglase G, Pastorino R, van Kaam AH, Mercuri E, Orfeo L, Vento G; IN-REC-SUR-E Study Group; Malguzzi S, Rigotti C, Cecchi A, Nigro G, Costabile CD, Roma E, Sindico P, Venafra R, Mattia C, Conversano M, Ballardini E, Manganaro A, Balestri E, Gallo C, Catenazzi P, Astori MG, Maranella E, Grassia C, Maiolo K, Castellano D, Massenzi L, Chiodin E, Gallina MR, Consigli C, Sorrentino E, Bonato S, Mancini M, Perniola R, Giannuzzo S, Tranchina E, Cardilli V, Dito L, Regoli D, Tormena F, Battajon N, Arena R, Allais B, Guidotti I, Roversi F, Meli V, Tulino V, Casati A.JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Sep 3;7(9):e2435347. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.35347.PMID: 39320892 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

Mother's Own Milk Provision During the First 12 Weeks of Life by Gestational Age.

Patel AL, Wilson J, Holmes M, Johnson TJ.JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Mar 3;8(3):e250024. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.0024.PMID: 40042846 Free PMC article.

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

Effects of liberal versus restrictive transfusion strategies on intermittent hypoxaemia in extremely low birthweight infants: secondary analyses of the ETTNO randomised controlled trial.

Franz AR, Engel C, Bassler D, Rüdiger M, Thome UH, Maier RF, Krägeloh-Mann I, Essers J, Bührer C, Bittrich HJ, Roll C, Höhn T, Ehrhardt H, Boettger R, Körner HT, Stein A, Neuberger P, Henriksen TB, Greisen G, Poets CF; ETTNO Investigators.Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2025 Mar 26:fetalneonatal-2024-327643. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2024-327643. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40139741

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us a text

In this episode, Dr. Marlon Timothy shares his journey as a neonatologist, discussing his experiences in Trinidad and Tobago and the evolution of neonatal care. He highlights the challenges faced upon returning from training in Toronto, the establishment of neonatal units, and the implementation of therapeutic hypothermia. Dr. Timothy emphasizes the importance of training and collaboration in improving neonatal outcomes and shares insights into the ongoing efforts to enhance maternal and neonatal health in Trinidad and Tobago. In this conversation, Dr. Marlon Timothy discusses various innovative interventions in neonatal care, the importance of funding and government support, the training and development of neonatologists, the role of research and data in improving care, and the challenges of maintaining work-life balance in a demanding field. He emphasizes the need for global collaboration to enhance neonatal outcomes and shares insights from his experiences in Trinidad and Tobago.

Link to episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/jUyLLaYLFHY

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of The Incubator, Ben and Daphna speak with Dr. Scott Duncan, Division Chief at the University of Louisville, about the critical importance of medical billing and coding in neonatology. The discussion explores how accurate documentation and thoughtful use of codes can impact everything from individual reimbursement to hospital funding and staffing. Dr. Duncan explains the key differences between critical care and intensive care coding, highlighting how misunderstanding these definitions can lead to missed opportunities for appropriate billing. The conversation also delves into the complexities of CPT and ICD-10 codes, bundled versus unbundled services, and how Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) systems influence hospital revenue. They discuss how proper coding affects downstream resources, including staffing, and why the financial viability of neonatal units depends in part on getting this right. Dr. Duncan reflects on the need for better education in this area, particularly for trainees, and shares practical resources and upcoming initiatives aimed at helping clinicians build this essential skill set. This episode offers an eye-opening look at a topic often overlooked in medical training, but vital to the sustainability of neonatal care.

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

In this Tech Tuesday episode, Ben and Daphna welcome Xina Quan, co-founder and CEO of PyrAmes, to introduce a groundbreaking neonatal device: the Boppli. Developed from Stanford research, the Boppli is a non-invasive, wearable blood pressure monitor that provides continuous, real-time readings—without the need for cuffs or arterial catheters.

FDA-cleared for babies under five kilograms, the Boppli uses a soft, adhesive-free band that wraps gently around an extremity. Backed by 3,400 hours of clinical validation, the Boppli has shown accuracy approaching that of invasive arterial lines according to the team at Pyrames.

Ben and Daphna explore how this innovation could reshape blood pressure monitoring for hypotensive and unstable neonates. Quan shares her vision of the Boppli becoming as commonplace as pulse oximetry in NICUs—empowering care teams with precise, painless data they can finally trust.

As she puts it, “Half the battle is having good data—this is a way to finally get it.”

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

In this week’s Journal Club, Ben and Daphna dissect six critical studies reshaping our understanding of neonatal care. Kicking off with the Canadian Neonatal Network’s multicenter cohort on inhaled nitric oxide (iNO), they explore how early pulmonary hypertension responsiveness to iNO may predict survival in preterm infants. They then examine a poignant study on maternal decision regret following extremely preterm births, revealing elevated regret across all pathways—comfort, active care, or otherwise—underscoring the emotional complexity of shared decision-making. The duo dives into data from the NICHD Neonatal Research Network on how even a single dose of antenatal steroids improves outcomes incrementally by the hour, strengthening the case for early administration. Ben highlights an AI-driven TPN algorithm that may outperform clinicians in individualized nutrition planning, while Daphna introduces an unexpected intervention—xylitol chewing gum—to reduce preterm birth in low-resource settings. Rounding out the discussion is a provocative look at intermittent hypoxemia as a predictor of systemic hypertension and the landmark NICHD trial on therapeutic hypothermia for infants 33–35 weeks GA. With a striking 87% probability of harm, this trial challenges the current drift toward “cooling creep.” Essential listening for any neonatologist seeking evidence-based clarity in an ever-evolving field.

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!