Leading researchers from Australia and New Zealand will share the latest in newborn medicine research this week as the Royal Women’s Hospital hosts its annual Cool Topics in Neonatology conference.
The conference will be held online this year and hundreds of doctors, nurses and researchers are already registered for the talks which have been condensed and split into morning and afternoon sessions across two days (19 and 20 November).
Head of the Women’s Newborn Research Department, Professor Peter Davis, said the conference will give those attending insight into key areas in neonatology and the latest on exciting research.
Talks include:
- Long-term outcomes of babies born at 22-24 weeks’ gestation
- The effect of smell and taste of milk during tube feeding of preterm infants
- The mental health of parents following very preterm birth
- Retinopathy of prematurity: lessons from history and recent developments
“Although not in its usual in-person format, this year’s Cool Topics continues to bring together the best of perinatal research for those interested in the health of our smallest and sickest babies,” said Professor Davis.
“This year’s conference has had more input from our obstetric colleagues, emphasising the continuity of care between fetus and newborn baby. I’m particularly looking forward to Dr Freddy Beker’s talk on improving babies’ health by providing smell and taste of milk during feeds – a simple and obvious thing to do which we’ve managed to overlook for the past 50 years. Also, we’re looking at life outside the NICU – what are the challenges of parents of preterm babies and how are those babies doing in adulthood?
“There is plenty for fellow researchers and clinicians to get their teeth stuck into this year, and we hope this online format will allow even more people to come along.”