Grace Research Unit

This page is a research page. For clinical information, please view our Newborn Intensive Care (Grace Centre) service page on the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network website.

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The Grace Research Unit is a leading neonatal clinical and academic research unit, based within the Grace Centre for Neonatal Intensive Care at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. With a commitment to multidisciplinary research and partnership with families, our aim is to deliver state of the art services in a world class facility.

Objectives

Our research objectives align with the following themes: 

  • Neurodevelopmental outcomes 
  • Newborn pain 
  • NIDCAP (Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program) 
  • Sleep 
  • Smart monitoring 
  • Nutrition
  • Haemodynamics

Impact

  • Our unit has been instrumental in developing and validating a specific pain assessment for newborns undergoing surgery. This tool is now being used as a standard of care in Grace and in neonatal units worldwide.
  • Our team were the first group worldwide to research the effectiveness of an assessment tool to predict cerebral palsy in infant’s following neonatal surgery. The findings have generated international interest and have been translated into local practice, with all infants in Grace receiving routine screening following surgery. 
  • Grace Research unit were leaders in the field to recognise and highlight the impact of neonatal surgery on the developmental outcomes of infants.
  • Read more about our impact in our 2022 Grace Research report.

Collaborations

For enquires

Dr Natalie Fairbairn

Research Officer

Email: SCHN-CHW-GraceResearch@health.nsw.gov.au

Dr Himanshu Popat

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Dr Himanshu Popat

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Biography
Co-lead Research, Co-Director of the Department, Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care. Future Leader Fellow, NHMRC Clinical Trial Centre, USYD.
Related Links
USYD profile
Google Scholar profile
Dr Cathryn Crowle

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Dr Cathryn Crowle

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Biography
Co-lead Research & Senior Occupational Therapist, Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care. Clinical Senior Lecturer, CHW Clinical School, USYD.
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Prof Nadia Badawi AM

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Prof Nadia Badawi AM

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Biography
Medical Director and Co-Head Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care, CHW. CP Alliance Chair of Cerebral Palsy Research, USYD.
Related Links
USYD profile
Google Scholar profile
Ms Nadine Griffiths

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Ms Nadine Griffiths

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Biography
Clinical Nurse Consultant, Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care, CHW. Senior NIDCAP Trainer, Training Centre Co-Director, The Australasian NIDCAP Training Centre.
Related Links
Google Scholar profile

More team members

  • Dr Natalie Fairbairn
  • Dr Robert Halliday
  • Dr Bhavesh Mehta
  • Dr Amit Trivedi
  • A/Prof Kath Carmo
  • Dr Ahmed Moustafa
  • Dr Stephanie Boyd
  • Dr Raj Agniti
  • Dr Priya Govindaswamy
  • Ms Jeewan Jyoti