Vasiljevic Brankica
NMC Royal Hospital DIP, Dubai, UAE
Abstract:
Neonatal encephalopathy is third leading cause of neonatal mortality and the second most common preventable cause of childhood neurodisability worldwide.
Neonatal encephalopathy is a heterogeneous syndrome characterized by signs of CNS dysfunction in newborn infants.. It is advise to use terms Neonatal encephalopathy instead of Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy or perinatal birth asphyxiabecause it is difficult to identify the time and etiology of brain injury and it is impossible to be ascertain that the brain had been “normal” before hypoxic-ischemic injury.
Perinatal brain injury occurs via multiple pathways (neuro- excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, apoptosis, inflammation, downregulation growth factors, altered genes expression and regulation) and progresses over a long period of time (days to weeks and months).
Currently, therapeutic hypothermia is the standard of care whichhas limited effectiveness especially in severe cases, a narrow therapeutic time window, and is not considered safe for treatment of premature infants.
Addressing this concern, several preclinical studies assessed the potential of stem cell therapy, erythropoietin, melatonin, allopurinol, topiramate,magnesium sulfate, interferon-beta .
A combination of therapeutic hypothermia with antioxidative and anti-inflammatory drugs and modulation of the production of growth factors might me more effective neuroprotective therapy in neonatal encephalopathy.
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Biography:
From December 2014 I am working in NMC Royal Hospital DIP in Dubai first as Head of Department of Neonatology and from 2017 as Head of Maternity and Child Health Service. I have overall more than 30 years clinical experienceand more 20 years as neonatologist. I was Consultant Neonatologist and Head of NICU in Clinical Canter of Serbia and lecturer (Neonatology) in Belgrade University of School of Medicine before I joined to NMC Hospital in Dubai.
After earning MD degree I have completed my clinical postgraduate education (Pediatric fellowship and after that Neonatology fellowship) and academic postgraduate education (MSc Thesis and PhD Thesis) at Belgrade University of School of Medicine.
I have completed Safety, Quality, Informatics and Leadership Program at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA..
I have also completed Yugoslav School of Ultrasound and different courses in ultrasonography and echocardiography in Serbia and UK.
My knowledge and practical skills in neonatology I was expend through Visiting scholar and Internships in Greece (Alexandar Hospital, Iaso Hospital and Elena Hospital in Athens), USA (Morgan Children’s of New York-Presbyterian- Columbia University New York, USA in New York) and Austria (General Hospital of Salzburg in Salzburg and Regional Hospital (LKH-Landeskrankenhaus) in Graz).
I have won the ESPNIC Educational Grant at 5th World Congress on Pediatric Intensive & Critical Care in Geneva Switzerland (2007).
I was a local coordinator for International Neonatal Immunotherapy Study-INIS for Serbia and Montenegro, and I have also participated in SIOP 93-01 Study, ITP Study and Twin Birth Study.
I have published more than 35 international publications in international indexed journals (more than 100 citations) and 5 chapters in various fields of neonatal medicine and also have more than 30 presentations to my credit out of which more than 10 are in international conferences.
I am a member of Editorial Board of different international journals.
I am a European board certified for Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care.
I am a member of Serbian Medical Chamber, European Society of Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care, International Lactation Consultant Association, Southeast European Society of Perinatal Medicine and Serbian American Medical Association.