Don Sharkey

So the new scrubs have arrived! We move into our new futuristic NICU next week @ Nottingham Centre for Newborn Care. So, so excited for our babies, families and staff.

I developed www.nicunutritionplus.com The platform tracks new RCTs on neonatal nutrition. This is not a replacement for peer-reviewed research. It is a complementary resource. My hope is simple: better access to better evidence, sooner.

Amazing, well done all. Looking forward to 👀 results, next week 😉?

www.bapm.org/events/bapm-... only 2 weeks to go to the 50th anniversary annual conference of @bapmofficial.bsky.social . Super excited as being held in our very own @uniofnottingham.bsky.social . Our group will be presenting some exciting research we believe will shape practice....

This signal suggests larger adequately powered (90%) studies are required especially in low resource settings where treatment is harder and burden of visual impairment greater. Safety data will be crucial inc. eye infections.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Interesting preclinical study. Perhaps has implications for term HIE & preterm brain injury repair? One for newborn brain researchers to consider? @jamespboardman.bsky.social @atulmalhotra.bsky.social @ela-chakk.bsky.social @braintherapies.bsky.social @science.org

Interesting how the two studies (www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....) @nejm.org were very similar but powered very differently. Hopefully an planned IPMA will come next but I'd say the writing is on the wall for EPO. Where next, melatonin? @ebneo.bsky.social

Small but crucial gains, we suspected this but great to see in RCT. Also fabulous to see @jama.com publishing trials in these populations.

Only 2 of 38 EU health research calls explicitly include children. It’s time to change that. Read the joint white paper from EAP, ESPR, AEPC, ESPE and ESPGHAN and help make child health a research priority. 🔗 www.eurospe.org/wp-content/u...

Factor in pregnancy and this becomes even harder to understand for babies exposed (or not)....

Thanks. May not have spotted this one without excellent @ebneo.bsky.social summary. Will now hunt it out....

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... what an inspiring story, if we had more Harchie's we'd be turning our use of technologies for the good and less about profit and destruction.

@espr-esn.bsky.social

Finally awarded the neonatal transport grant I've been building for 5yrs. 🙏 @ukri.org for funding our team £1.5 million ($2M) to finally make interhospital transfer safer for all babies and provide the research community with next generation research tools to accelerate Neonatal Transport care.

The interactive scientific programme of our 2026 international meeting @cepascongress.bsky.social together with EAP & in collab. with GFCNI is live. Explore session details, confirmed talks & speakers! Kindly supported by @99nicu.bsky.social & @ebneo.bsky.social. More: www.cepas.org/scientific-p...

This Analysis for The BMJ Commission on the Future of Academic Medicine proposes reforms to rebuild the clinical academic pipeline www.bmj.com/content/393/...

www.nature.com/articles/s41... Wow, eco friendly house in rural Africa massively reduces malaria, diarrhoea, respiratory infections and improves pre-school children height. Fabulous work, pharma has its place but this is outstanding. Perhaps an approach to consider aid differently rather than cuts.

Fascinating, would be good to understand the implications for preterm birth, nutrition of the preterm infant and impact on outcomes. One for you @jamespboardman.bsky.social

Data used to justify the expansion of controversial software in the NHS is flawed, experts say, and the pilot trust’s innovation adviser worked directly for Palantir https://bit.ly/4stVolW

"Every 1% increase in military spending drives a 0·62% reduction in public health spending." On the cover, a new letter examines the relationship between military spending and public health expenditure during conflicts. Find out more in our latest issue: spkl.io/63325ANG6W

Dr James Carpenter will present our new multi-parameter, wireless, vital sign monitoring for newborns to an audience of 90+ investors, strategics, clinicians, and industry leaders helping shape the future of medtech. #MedTechInnovator #MTIRadarForum

Join us at the 17th Dresden Symposium on Feto-Neonatal Health & ESN Spring School under the leadership of ESPR Senior Member Prof Mario Rüdiger!📍 Dresden, 12-14 March.📅 Thu–Fri: cutting-edge talks; 🛠 Sat: hands-on workshops, incl. ESN NPE training. See the full programme here: tinyurl.com/3rhz4cuy

The next NeoTRIPs Lunch & Learn! 🧬 Clinical Genetics in Neonatal Medicine 🗓️ Friday 23rd January 12-2pm 🎟️ Register with your work email here: neotrips.org/event/neotri...

@plos.org

journals.plos.org/digitalhealt... New paper out today from @tngchang.bsky.social from University of Nottingham with many collaborators (thanks). Excellent OA online extreme preterm mortality prediction tool with neat explainable element. Great for all perinatal teams.

🚀Calling all neonatal & paediatric researchers! Submit your abstract for #CEPAS2026 in Lyon (28–31 Oct) by 1 Apr 2026. Share your innovations, gain skills, and connect globally to shape the future of child health! www.cepas.org/abstracts?ut...

Our BiB trial manuscript now published in JAMA...Early Intratracheal Budesonide for Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia url: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Our September newsletter is now available! Read this month's issue here for news, upcoming events, funding opportunities and recent publications in child health 👉 mailchi.mp/d56096f82afc...

Editor-in-Chief Eric Rubin asks why, under an administration that says it is focused on making America healthy again, we are denigrating and discarding our single most cost-effective public health tools — vaccines. Read the full editorial: nej.md/4mtH8Xm #MedSky #PublicHealth

Sad to see this come to fruition. @stefanjohansson.nicuverse.org.ap.brid.gy your analysis gets a mention but despite the strengths it is dismissed...😔

Very thorough review and highlights early challenges FGR infants need to overcome. As highlighted, tricky to identify who truly is FGR vs constitutionally small.

Early days but a promising approach. Likely to be more challenging in my population of newborn infants but would be great to explore....

I've listened to almost all of these and they are great. Chatting about neonatal research and care. Well worth a listen for all involved in the care of newborns. Good work Mario and @espr-esn.bsky.social

Really interesting study pushing the boundaries on this tricky and often poor outcome condition. Perhaps a condition that one day will have a handful of centres with expertise to treat and hopefully improve outcomes.

The win ratio method is gaining traction in #RCTs. Is it just a trend or a smarter way to look at composite hierarchical outcomes? We break it down in our latest Stats, STAT!📊 in NEJM Evidence. youtube.com/watch?v=jKtF... #stats @nejm.org @sarahgorey.bsky.social @chardin.bsky.social @ai.nejm.org

www.nottinghampost.com/news/notting...

Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug that kills mosquitoes feeding on treated persons. In this trial in Kenya, ivermectin given once per month for 3 months led to a 26% lower incidence of malaria than albendazole. Full trial results: nej.md/4lIyNzB #MedSky #IDSky

Well done to Hannah Mitchell & her great team who produced this hugely important work: Contribution of ethnicity and deprivation to paediatric critical care outcomes in the UK, 2008–21: a national retrospective cohort study - The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Impressive technological advancement.

Check out our new open access paper in @pediatricresearch.bsky.social . Highlighting the impact on thermal management, HIE and transport metrics following implementation of active therapeutic hypothermia by regional transport and referring centres for infants transferred for neo HIE rdcu.be/etXDT

Fabulous week hosted by @research4babies.bsky.social in Canada with our team member Syed, neonatal clinical fellow. Great hospitality Georg. Some amazing data on our new neonatal vital signs patch during cardiac arrest scenarios. Thanks for looking after Syed for another couple of weeks!

The evidence on infection outcomes of hospital-initiated kangaroo care is unclear. In @lancetchildadol.bsky.social, authors evaluate the role of hospital-initiated kangaroo care in preventing mortality, sepsis, and invasive infection in low-birthweight infants: tinyurl.com/46aunenf

Delighted to see the @nihr funded CCD study published today in @lancetrh-europe.bsky.social Lots to celebrate: sex, ethnicity and IMD does not impact time to diagnosis for CYP w cancer. But also lots to improve: young people and certain diagnostic groups need urgent attention. #earlydiagnosis

Very interesting analysis. 3% difference in mortality if PDA actively treated. Perhaps results in more morbidity in expectant group survivors - not the case. One for the reading pile....

Wonderful, getting over many challenges to reach this accolade- well done!

We’re honoured to receive a Medilink Midlands Business Award with the University of Nottingham, celebrating our collaboration in the Partnership Between Academia and Business category.

Such a powerful tool. MRI born in my University, really recommend watching this fascinating 3 min video of where it started. Never be able to do research like this now, "I may have a cardiac arrest"! The images have moved on somewhat and we are just installing an 11T! m.youtube.com/watch?v=3nIX...

Strong conclusions "Their use should be standard of care for very preterm infants, or offering their use to parents should be standard practice. Just don’t expect them to improve neurological or developmental outcomes" - do you agree?

🚀 Today, we launch #ForgingAhead—a £16M initiative uniting 15 Midlands universities. The project will transform the commercialisation ecosystem by: 🔹 Developing top-tier talent 🔹 Scaling accelerators 🔹 Attracting investment 🔹 Boosting key sectors 🔗 Read more: buff.ly/WyGEssg

What a refreshing read. Could apply in many settings. This "Forget the idea that a bubble bath or an essential oil diffuser will magically solve this." is so true. Recommend you read and share.

🧠 ESPR Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are where ideas grow into action! ✨ 15+ SIGs covering everything from brain imaging to QI & Innovation and beyond 🌍 Connect with experts, contribute to guidelines, shape the future of paediatrics 🔗 Explore & join: www.espr.eu/SIGs/SIG_ove...