DBI Faculty Honored With REIW 2026 Awards
Three faculty affiliated with the Developing Brain Institute were honored with highly competitive research awards during Research Education & Innovation Week (REIW) 2026, which showcases Children’s exceptional research.
“Opioid Receptor Expression in the Human Placenta and Placental Transcriptomic Alterations in Opioid Use Disorders,” led by Yingshi Ouyang, Ph.D., Developing Brain Institute Research Faculty, received the REIW 2026 Basic & Translational Research award for faculty.
Attending Neonatologist Katherine M. Ottolini, M.D., was honored with a 2026 Chu Family Foundation Award for her team’s Oura ring (BOOST) pilot study, which was lauded as an “innovative and exciting proposal.” Dr. Ottolini’s project will evaluate the relationship between maternal biometrics, skin-to-skin kangaroo care and diet on human milk composition.
And Sarah B. Mulkey, M.D., Ph.D., a prenatal-neonatal neurologist, was honored with an Explorations in Global Health Pilot award. For years, Dr. Mulkey has followed a cohort of Colombian mothers whose babies were exposed to the Zika virus in the womb. Now, those children are old enough to attend school. Dr. Mulkey’s award-winning project aims to understand how community, home and environmental factors influence neurodevelopment among children exposed to Zika but born normocephalic.
More than 450 posters were presented during REIW 2026, which showcases Children’s exceptional research. This year, researchers affiliated with the Developing Brain Institute (DBI) presented a total of 32 posters. Please see our REIW posters and presenters below:
| Aokalani M, et al. “Perceived Control in the NICU: Implications for Dyadic Care in the NICU.” |
| Aokalani M, et al. “PLAYMATES: A Pilot Dyadic Psychotherapeutic Intervention for Families With Medically Fragile Infants.” |
| Beilfuss AM, Andescavage N, Ottolini KM, Limperopoulos C, Latif H, Pen R. “Maternal Mental Health and Breastmilk Composition in Mothers of Preterm Infants.” |
| Cook KM, De Asis-Cruz J, Murnick J, Ottolini KM, Basu SK, Andescavage N, du Plessis AJ, Limperopoulos C. “Prematurely Born Infants Exhibit Atypical Functional Brain Development Compared to Fetal Peers and Degree of Prematurity.” |
| Donnellan E, Aokalani MC, Ilori F, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. “Exploratory Factor Analysis of the 14-Item Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.” |
| Elsaid NMH, et al. “Brain Microstructural Maturation Trajectories in Preterm Infants Vary by Injury Severity.” |
| Elsaid NMH, et al. “Robust Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Moving Fetal Brain Using Phase-Based Motion Detection.” |
| Elsaid NMH, et al. “Validation of Diffusion MRI–Based Thermometry in Preterm Neonates Toward Noninvasive Fetal Temperature Estimation.” |
| Gothelf I, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C, Kushal K, Pen RG, Liszka L, Widener BR, Cook KM. “Neighborhood Disadvantage Is Associated With Occupational Therapy Uptake in the NICU and Brain Volume Changes by Term Age.” |
| Haley R, Weiner S, Adegbulugbe E, Henderson D, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. “Resilience as a Moderator Between COVID-19 -Related Distress and Prenatal Anxiety During the Pandemic.” |
| Harris J, Cook KM, Pen R, Zeman A, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. “Opioid Exposure in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Is Associated With Reduced Amygdala and Hippocampal Volumes.” |
| Hoover G, Ottolini KM, Cook KM, Aokalani MC, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. “Analysis of Mother’s Own Milk Provision and Parental Presence in NICU Settings Using the Social Vulnerability Index.” |
| Hui SCN, Andescavage N, Kapse K, Limperopoulos C. “Brain Metabolite Changes in Fetuses of Mother With Maternal Psychological Distress.” |
| Hui SCN, Andescavage N, Kapse K, Saleh MG, Edden RAE, Limperopoulos C. “GABA Measurements in the Neonatal Brain With and Without Macromolecule Suppression.” |
| Hui SCN, Murali-Manohar S, Andescavage N, Kapse K, Edden RAE, Limperopoulos C. “Measures of Metabolite T2 Relaxation Times in the Fetal Brain at 3 Tesla.” |
| Kim DY, Murnick J, Kim JH, Kapse K, De Asis-Cruz J, Limperopoulos C. “Attention-Augmented ResNet for Fetal Brain-Age Estimation: Application to Brain-Age Gap Prediction in Congenital Heart Disease.” |
| Kim JH, et al. “A Unified 3D U-Net Segmentation Framework for Fetus-Neonate-Infant Neuroimaging.” |
| Lee MM, Kim JH, Stoodley CJ. “Predictors of Individual Behavioral Responses to Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation.” |
| Liszka L, Christoffel K, Liggett M, Limperopoulos C, Andescavage N. “Exploring Neurobehavioral Outcomes Between Infants of Diabetic Mothers and Full-Term Controls.” |
| Mora Álvarez MG, Cruz J, Kapse K, Vezina G, Donofrio MT, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. “Enlarged CSF Spaces Are Associated With Impaired Glymphatic Function in Neonates With Congenital Heart Disease.” |
| Morozova O, Ruffini L, Brandt A, Elgren R, Liszka L. “Early Detection of High-Risk Cerebral Palsy.” |
| Ottolini KM, Ngwa JS, Basu SK, Kapse K, Cook KM, Wu Y, Murnick J, du Plessis AJ, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. “Impaired ex Utero Brain Growth of Preterm Infants Compared to in Utero Healthy Fetuses.” |
| Ottolini KM, Chirumamilla VC, Basu SK, Andescavage N, Ngwa JS, du Plessis AJ, Limperopoulos C, Govindan RB. “Nutritional Factors Associated With Autonomic Nervous System Maturation in Preterm Infants.” |
| Ouyang Y, Meng J, Liu L, Vo MT, Huang K. “Opioid Receptor Expression in the Human Placenta and Placental Transcriptomic Alterations in Opioid Use Disorders.” |
| Stage AJ, Hui SCN, Ottolini KM, Ngwa J, Murnick J, Basu SK, Kapse K, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. “Relationship Between Clinical Comorbidities and Cerebral Metabolic Maturation in Preterm Infants.” |
| Tegiacchi RF, Malloy E, Kauffman AM, Walsh KW, Stoodley CJ. “The Relationship Between Lesion Location and Motor and Cognitive Outcomes in Pediatric Cerebellar Patients.” |
| Twohy K, Elsaid NMH, Limperopoulos C, Andescavage N. “Structural Assessment of the ex Vivo Placenta Using Magnetic Resonance Elastography.” |
| Weiner S, et al. “Early Brain Growth Trajectories as the Basis of Early Childhood Development in a Normative Healthy Cohort.” |
| Weiner S, et al. “Newborn Posterior Vermis Volume Predictive of Attention and Hyperactivity at Preschool Age.” |
| Widener B, Zeman A, Said M, Andescavage N, Limperopoulos C. “Assessing Developmental and Neuroprotective Care Practices Across the Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC) NICU Network.” |
| Wu Y, et al. “Brain Volumes and Neurobehavioral Profiles in Neonates With Antenatal Opioid Exposure.” |
| Wu Y, et al. “Elevated Maternal Anger Is Associated With Reduced Amygdala Volumes in Newborns Exposed to Antenatal Opioids.” |
