Dr. Frances Northington is a professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her area of clinical expertise is neonatal and perinatal medicine. Dr. Northington is one of the founders and co-directors of the Neurosciences Intensive Care Nursery at Johns Hopkins, which brings together experts from neonatology, pediatric neuroradiology, pediatric neurology, maternal fetal medicine, developmental medicine and the Kennedy Krieger Institute to care for newborns who have developmental brain abnormalities or are at high risk of neurological injuries. She received her medical degree at the Medical College of Georgia. She went on to complete a residency at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital and a fellowship at the University of Virginia. Dr. Northington is rated as an Advanced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. Her top areas of expertise are Intraventricular Hemorrhage of the Newborn, Premature Infant, Asphyxia Neonatorum, and Cerebral Hypoxia.

Dr. Elizabeth Cristofalo is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her area of clinical expertise is neonatology. After receiving her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Dr. Cristofalo completed her residency in pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She also performed her fellowship in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Cristofalo is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. Her top areas of expertise are Hypothermia, Asphyxia Neonatorum, and Premature Infant.

Dr. Raul Chavez-Valdez is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His area of clinical expertise is Neonatology. Dr. Chavez Valdez completed Medical School in Lima Peru, Pediatric residency at University of Illinois at Chicago, and post-doctoral Fellowship in Neonatology-Perinatology and Community Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University-School of Medicine where he was awarded the 2007 Eudowood Board Bauernschmidt Fellowship Award. Since 2005 his research has been focused in mechanisms of neurotrophism with particular interest in the neurological disorders evolving during the perinatal period. His work has been reported in many national and international meetings and many publications in prestigious journals. He received the Johns Hopkins SOM Clinician Scientist Award and funding from the NINDS/NIH in 2017. Dr. Valdez is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. His top areas of expertise are Hypothermia, Cerebral Hypoxia, Apnea of Prematurity, and Infantile Apnea.

May Chen is the associate director of the neonatal-perinatal medicine fellowship training program at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her area of expertise is diagnosing and treating premature babies and newborns with high-risk or complex health conditions. She specializes in neonatal-perinatal medicine and neonatology. Dr. Chen graduated from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She later completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in neonatology, each at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She became a faculty member in the division of Neonatology in 2018. Dr. Chen is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. Her top areas of expertise are Hypothermia, Cerebral Hypoxia, Congenital Syphilis, and Asphyxia Neonatorum.

Johana Diaz is a Pediatrics provider in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Diaz is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. Her top areas of expertise are Rotor Syndrome, Cerebral Hypoxia, Asphyxia Neonatorum, and Gastroschisis. Dr. Diaz is currently accepting new patients.

Dr. Maureen M. Gilmore is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her areas of clinical expertise include Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. At Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Dr. Gilmore serves as Medical director of the Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. She previously was the NICU Medical Director at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, and her early career was in Neonatology at Penn State University Dr. Gilmore earned her M.D. from the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn. She completed her Pediatrics residency at the University of Rochester/Strong Memorial Hospital and performed a fellowship in Neonatal -Perinatal Medicine at Johns Hopkins. Her research interests include neuromonitoring and neonatal autoregulation, neonatal abstinenece syndrome, and patient safety. Dr. Gilmore serves on the Perinatal Advisory Committee for the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and a member of the Maryland chapter of the AAP. Dr. Gilmore is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. Her top areas of expertise are High Blood Pressure in Infants, Hypothermia, Premature Infant, and Necrotizing Enterocolitis.

Jenny Yu is a Neonatologist and a Pediatrics provider in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Yu is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. Her top area of expertise is Asphyxia Neonatorum.

Cynthia Bearer is a Neonatologist and a Pediatrics provider in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Bearer is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. Her top areas of expertise are Premature Infant, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), Apnea of Prematurity, and Cerebral Hypoxia. Dr. Bearer is currently accepting new patients.

"Dr. Sapna Kudchadkar is the Anesthesiologist-in-Chief of the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and Vice Chair for Pediatric Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is a professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine, pediatrics and physical medicine and rehabilitation at JHUSOM. Her areas of interest include sleep disturbances in critically ill children, pediatric delirium prevention and management, sedation of mechanically ventilated children, pediatric ICU rehabilitation and mobility, and clinical epidemiology and biostatistics. Dr. Kudchadkar received her undergraduate degree in both biochemistry and French at Washington University in St. Louis, where she graduated magna cum laude. She went on to attend University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, where she earned her M.D. and completed an internship with the Open Society Institute Soros Community Health Program. She completed residencies in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Children's Center and in anesthesiology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, followed by clinical fellowships in pediatric critical care and pediatric anesthesiology. Dr. Kudchadkar received her PhD in clinical investigation at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her primary research focus is the integration of sleep promotion, sedation optimization and delirium prevention to promote early mobility and improve functional outcomes for survivors of pediatric critical illness. Dr. Kudchadkar is the lead PI for the international PARK-PICU study (Prevalence of Acute Rehab for Kids in the PICU, park.web.jhu.edu), which includes >200 sites in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Europe and Australia. She is also the lead PI for an NIH funded 10-hospital stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial of a multifaceted early mobility program for critically ill children (PICU Up!; NCT04989790) and MPI for an NIH-funded multicenter randomized trial investigating physical rehabilitation and nutrition in pediatric ICU patients (PROXIMUS; NCT05296096) In April 2013, Dr. Kudchadkar was awarded the Alfred Sommer Scholar award at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, given to Ph.D. candidates ""who exemplify scientific excellence, energy, ambition, political acumen and a determination to change the world"" through public health research. In 2025, she was the recipient of the Drs. Vidyasagar and Nagamani Dharmapuri Award for Excellence in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine from the Society of Critical Care Medicine and also received the 2025 Sean Berenholtz Award for Quality and Safety from the Armstrong Institute. Dr. Kudchadkar is a Fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine and the Senior Associate Editor of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. She also serves on the international advisory board of the Lancet Child and Adolescent Health.". Dr. Kudchadkar is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. Her top areas of expertise are Asphyxia Neonatorum and Adenoidectomy.

Pediatric and neonatal neurologist Joseph Scafidi is a clinician-scientist with expertise in pre-term neonatal brain injury, hypoxic ischemia and neurodevelopmental disorders. He directs the Michael V. Johnston Center for Developmental Neuroscience at Kennedy Krieger Institute. Dr. Scafidi earned a degree in osteopathic medicine from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed residency training in pediatrics at Rutgers University Medical School as well as in child neurology at Children’s National Hospital, where he also undertook fellowship training in neonatal neurology. Additionally, Dr. Scafidi was a postdoctoral research fellow in developmental neurobiology at Children’s National Research Institute. His research interests focus on understanding metabolic adaptations after perinatal brain injury in the acute and long-term recovery phases, specifically how different cell populations in different brain regions use energy after injury and how these adaptations or maladaptations affect the recovery process. As a practicing pediatric and neonatal neurologist, Dr. Scafidi is ideally positioned to facilitate bench-to-bedside therapies through his laboratory and to improve knowledge of disease by developing and testing bedside-to-bench, research-driven hypotheses. Dr. Scafidi is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. His top areas of expertise are Cerebral Hypoxia, Seizures, Benign Rolandic Epilepsy, Premature Infant, and Endovascular Embolization.

Dr. Mary L. O’Connor Leppert is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her area of expertise is the early identification of developmental disorders. She serves as co-director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Follow-Up Clinic and assistant director of the Center for Development and Learning at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins. She is also a consultant physician at St. Agnes Hospital. Dr. Leppert received her undergraduate degree in biology from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. She completed her medical training at the national Universities of Ireland, University College Cork, where she earned her M.B., B.Ch., B.A.O. degrees. She completed a residency in pediatrics at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, and joined Kennedy Krieger in 1992 with a fellowship in developmental pediatrics through the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She has been an active medical staff member at the Kennedy Krieger Institute since 1995 in the division of Neurology and Developmental Medicine. Dr. Leppert’s research interests are related to the early identification of developmental disorders in the NICU follow up and preschool programs. She participates in clinical research on developmental outcomes of infants from the NICU. Contact for Research Inquiries 801 N. Broadway Baltimore, MD 21205 Phone: (443) 923-3240 leppert@kennedykrieger.org Research Summary Dr. Leppert’s interests include the early identification of developmental disorders in the NICU follow up and Preschool programs. She was part of a multicenter study to standardize the Capute Scales of Development, and participates in clinical research on developmental outcomes of infants from the NICU. Dr. Leppert is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. Her top areas of expertise are Microcephaly, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Asphyxia Neonatorum, and Developmental Dysphasia Familial.

Carl E. Stafstrom is a pediatric neurologist, caring for children with epilepsy. Dr. Stafstrom received his medical degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, with residencies at the University of Washington Medical Center and Tufts New England Medical Center, as well as fellowships at Harvard for neurology research and Boston Children’s Hospital in clinical neurophysiology, electroencephalography, and epilepsy. Dr. Stafstrom previously served as Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and Chief of Pediatric Neurology at American Family Children’s Hospital at UW Madison. Dr. Stafstrom is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. His top areas of expertise are Epilepsy, Seizures, West Syndrome, Endovascular Embolization, and Deep Brain Stimulation.

Marisa Mendes is a Pediatrics provider in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Mendes is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. Her top areas of expertise are Achalasia Microcephaly Syndrome, Microcephaly, Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis, and Obesity in Children.

Siddhartha Dante is an Intensive Care Medicine specialist and an Anesthesiologist in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Dante is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. His top area of expertise is Asphyxia Neonatorum.

Karen Kotloff is a Pediatric Infectious Disease specialist and a Pediatrics provider in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Kotloff is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. Her top areas of expertise are Diarrhea, Malnutrition, Viral Gastroenteritis, and Parainfluenza. Dr. Kotloff is currently accepting new patients.

Dr. Joanna Burton is a neurodevelopmental pediatrician at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Burton graduated with honors with a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from the University of Chicago in 1994. She then taught bilingual special education in Washington, DC for 5 years. She received an MD/PhD in 2008 from the University of Illinois, with the PhD in speech and hearing science, focusing on language acquisition. She then trained in general pediatrics at the University of Maryland Medical Center before receiving specialized training in neurodevelopmental disabilities at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. She currently sees patient with attentional and language based learning difficulties in the Center for Developmental and Learning, focusing on the development concerns of children with complex medical needs and those with a history of perinatal brain injury. She also sees patient in the Neurorehabilitation Concussion Clinic and provides inpatient consultations for high risk infants at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Contact for Research Inquiries 801 N. Broadway Baltimore, MD 21205 Research Summary Dr. Burton's dissertation focused on the effects of environment on assessment of word learning. She is a member of the Neurosciences Intensive Care Nursery (NICN) at the Charlotte Bloomberg Children’s Hospital at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and co-director of the Study on perinatal brain injury recovery and outcome (SPROUT) research collaborative at Kennedy Krieger. She currently investigates the neurodevelopmental outcomes of premature infants and term infants with a history of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. She is working to identify which factors best predict short and long-term neurodevelopment and behavior associated with difficulties in daily living and academic success, specifically in the areas of attention and language. She also works with multi-disciplinary teams to examine potential interventions to mitigate early brain injury in these infants. Dr. Burton is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Asphyxia Neonatorum. Her top areas of expertise are Intraventricular Hemorrhage of the Newborn, Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood, Premature Infant, and Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia.