Nehal Parikh

Perinatal-neonatal brain injuries and aberrant brain development are leading contributors of neurodevelopmental impairments. Our research team’s goal is to improve the long-term quality of life of high-risk preterm and term newborns by identifying the risk factors and preventing perinatal-neonatal brain injury and abnormal brain development. We are currently pursuing this goal by utilizing emerging translational technologies and robust statistical approaches that are revealing novel risk factors, enhancing diagnosis, improving outcome prediction, and highlighting key prevention and management strategies. Currently employed approaches include the early use of advanced brain magnetic resonance imaging and EEG to define the trajectory of normal and abnormal brain development and injury. Our lab is also developing automated volumetric and diffusion tensor MRI post-processing software to more objectively quantify injury/development and serve as early prediction biomarkers of neurodevelopmental deficits. Our work is generously supported by institutional and NIH grants.