Ashima Madan

Clinical Focus

• Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine
• Neonatology
• Infant, Premature, Diseases
• Infant, Newborn, Intensive Care

Administrative Appointments

• Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Neonatal /Pediatrics (2003 - present)
• Associate Chief of Research Programs, Division of Neonatal Medicine (2004 - present)
• Associate Medical Director, NICU, Packard Hospital (2004 - present)

Honors and Awards

• Outstanding Faculty Award, Stanford Asian American Community Center (2006)
• The Effect of Prematurity on Visual Development, (Primary sponsor) National Eye Institute (2005)
• Research Award, Smith Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (2003)
• Research Award, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (1999-2001)
• Research award, Knight's Templar Foundation (1999-2001)

Professional Education

• Board Certification: Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, American Board of Pediatrics (1993)
• Fellowship: UCSF School of Medicine, CA (1992)
• Board Certification: Pediatrics, American Board of Pediatrics (1989)
• Residency: UCSF School of Medicine, CA (1989)
• Internship: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, CA (1987)

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

• Neonatology
• Neonatology and Developmental Biology

Community & International Work

• Research in neonatal and perinatal medicine., CCSR, Packard Hospital 
• Institutional Review Board for Human Subjects Research, Stanford University School of Medicine 
• Neonatal and Developmental Medicine Seminar Series, LPCH auditorium 
• Research club, Pediatric Conference Room -G330 
• Research Preceptor, Stanford University School of Medicine 

Research Interests

Laboratory Based Research
Approximately 12 of every 100 babies that are born each year in the U.S. are preterm i.e. delivered at less than 37 weeks gestation. Premature birth is the most common cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality in the U.S. Despite efforts the incidence has continued to rise. One of the problems facing perinatologists is our lack of understanding of the various pathways that culminate in preterm birth. Yet another problem is the absence of a biomarker early in gestation that is predictive of development of preterm labor.
The focus of the Madan laboratory is to elucidate the molecular pathways underlying development of preterm labor and to identify an early biomarker predictive of preterm labor. With this goal in mind her lab has developed a mouse model of preterm labor. Several studies are being conducted using the mouse model. In addition, translational research studies to take this work from the bench to the bedside are underway (see Proteomic studies).

A) Effects of Prematurity on Visual Development
Preterm infants are at high risk for vision loss. Some of this is secondary to abnormal growth of blood vessels in the retina- a condition known as retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Although ROP continues to be a problem particularly in developing countries, cortical vision impairment (ie bilateral vision loss in the presence of a normal retina) is now the most common cause of childhood blindness in the U.S. CVI is difficult to diagnose in preverbal children and measuring visual acuity using current methods is difficult. In the current study the sweep visual evoked potential (sVEP), a quantitative electrophysiological tool to measure visual function is being used in 6 month old former preterm infants of < 32 weeks gestation at birth. The goal is to determine: a) the utility of the sVEP for early identification of babies at risk for CVI and b) its predictive ability to identify babies at risk for school age visuospatial...

Publications

• Vascular endothelial growth factor in eye disease Penn JS, Madan A, Caldwell RB, Bartoli M, Caldwell RW, Hartnett ME. "Prog Retin Eye Re" 2008 : (27(4)) : 331-71
• Fetus in fetu: 11 fetoid forms in a single fetus: Review of the literature and imaging. Gerber RE, Kamaya A, Miller SS, Madan A, Cronin DM, Dwyer B, Chueh J, Conner KE, Barth RA. "J Ultrasound Med" 2008 ; 9 (27) : 1381-1387
• Postnatal cytomegalovirus infection from frozen breast milk in preterm, low birth weight infants. Lee HC, Enright A, Benitz WE, Madan A "Pediatr Infect Dis J" 2007 ; 3 (26) : 276
• A potential biomarker in the cord blood of preterm infants who develop retinopathy of prematurity. Madan A, El-Ferzli G, Carlson SM, Whitin JC, Schilling J, Najmi A, Yu TT, Lau K, Dimmitt RA, Cohen HJ "Pediatr Res" 2007 ; 2 (61) : 215-21
• Oropharyngeal atresia in a preterm infant: a case report and review of the literature. Lee HC, O-Lee TJ, Madan A, Koltai P "Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol" 2007 ; 9 (71) : 1485-9