Research Facilities at the TJU & Christiana Hospital

The Division of Neonatology at Thomas Jefferson has its main laboratory facility at duPont Hospital’s Research Wing.  Dr. Thomas Shaffer’s neonatal pulmonary physiology laboratory is 1500 square feet.  It is set up as a state of the art ICN for animal experiments.  Dr. Shaffer has 25 years of experience as a respiratory physiologist.

With respect to clinical research, there are currently three full time research nurses within the Division of Neonatology who assist in the coordination and performance of clinical research.  At Thomas Jefferson University, one of the research nurses is currently assigned to ongoing neonatal respiratory research, while the other is focused primarily on infant apnea and breathing control disorders.  Much of this clinical research investigation utilizes the equipment and facilities previously mentioned that are housed in the intensive care nursery and transitional nurseries.  In addition, many studies in apnea and breathing control are currently under way on the pediatric floor for evaluation of older infants with respiratory control disturbances.  Fellows in the neonatology training program are strongly encouraged to participate in research investigations that are ongoing among members of the neonatology staff, as a starting point for their own subsequent independent investigations.

The neonatology staff at Christiana Hospital, has similar clinical research capabilities to that seen at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.  There is also a full time nurse dedicated to neonatal investigations, related the respiratory problems of the newborn, gastroenterology and nutrition, infectious diseases and others that are being pursued by members of the neonatal attending staff at Christiana Hospital. The current basic science research investigations in this section primarily use the resources of duPont Hospital for Children, which is the Children’s Hospital for Thomas Jefferson University.