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Endowed Chair: NEST Developmental Follow-up Center – Early Cerebral Palsy (CP) Detection and Intervention Program led by Yvette Johnson, M.D., MPH

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Endowed Chair and neonatologist Yvette Johnson, M.D., MPH, holds quadruplet babies at Cook Children’s NEST Developmental Follow-up Center.

Cook Children’s has awarded Yvette Johnson, M.D., MPH, an Endowed Chair to establish the NEST Developmental Follow-up Center – Early Cerebral Palsy (CP) Detection and Intervention Program. Dr. Johnson will expand access to early CP detection for all children in our region. This program also will help increase participation in clinical research and quality improvement initiatives across local and national collaborative clinical research projects. Engaging most level 3 and level 4 NICUs across North Texas in early CP detection would strengthen this internationally recognized and evidence-based clinical practice as the standard of care.

yvette-johnson

Meet Dr. Johnson

Dr. Johnson has dedicated her career to helping families with their infant patients' growth and development so they can reach their fullest potential.

View bio NEST Developmental Follow-up Center

Blue Peaks grant for feeding program: $15,000

  • Multicenter review of outcomes for CDH
  • NEST database registry
  • Multisite GMA for EDI network
  • CPRN

  • Song Y, Shahdadian S, Armstrong E, Brock E, Conrad SE, Acord S, Johnson YR, Marks W, Papadelis C. Spatiotemporal dynamics of cortical somatosensory network in typically developing children. Cereb Cortex. 2024 Jun4;34(6):bhae230. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhae230. PMID: 38836408; PMCID: PMC11151116.
  • Keene S, Grover TR, Murthy K, Pallotto EK, Brozanski B, Glen J, Zaniletti I, Johnson YR, Seabrook RB, Porta NFM, Haberman B, DiGeronimo R, Rintoul N. Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium’s (CHNC) Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Focus Group. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and bloodstream infection in congenital diaphragmatic hernia. J Perinatology 2019; 39: 1384-1391.
  • Gong A, Johnson YR, Livingston J, et al. Newborn Intensive Care Survivors: a review and a plan for collaboration in Texas. Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Maternal Health Neonatal Perinatal. 2019.
  • Shandley, S, Capilouto G, Tamilia E, Riley D, Johnson YR, Papadelis C. Suckling as a Guide to Repair Brain Injury. Frontiers Pediatrics 2020.
  • Mark F Weems, MD1 Theresa R Grover, MD2, Ruth Seabrook, MD3, Robert DiGeronimo, MD4, Jason Gien, MD2 Sarah Keene, MD5, Natalie Rintoul, MD6, John M Daniel, MD7, Yvette Johnson, MD8, Yigit Guner, MD9; Isabella Zaniletti, PhD10, Karna Murthy, MD, MSc11, and the Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Focus Group. Analgesia, Sedation, and Neuromuscular Blockade in Infants with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia are Associated with Adverse Outcomes, American Journal of Perinatology 2021.
  • Ruth Seabrook, Theresa Grover, Natalie Rintoul, Mark Weems, Sarah Keene, Beverly Brozanski, Robert DiGeronimo, Beth Haberman, Holly Hedrick, Jason Gien, Noorjahan Ali, Rachel Chapman, John Daniel, Allen Harrison, Yvette Johnson, Nicolas Porta, Michael Uhing, Isabella Zaniletti, and Karna Murthy. "Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension During Initial Hospitalization in a Multicenter Cohort of Infants with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH)". Journal of Perinatology 2021.
  • Shandley S, Capilouto G, Tamilia E, Riley DM, Johnson YR, Papadelis C. Abnormal Nutritive Sucking as an Indicator of Neonatal Brain Injury. Front Pediatr. 2021 Jan 12; 8: 599633.
  • Peeples ES, Rao R, Dizon MLV, Johnson YR, Joe P, Flibotte J, Hossain T, Smith D, Hamrick S, DiGeronimo R, Natarajan G, Lee KS, Yanowitz TD, Mietzsch U, Wu TW, Maitre NL, Pallotto EK, Speziale M, Mathur AM, Zaniletti I, Massaro A; Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy Focus Group. Predictive Models of Neurodevelopmental Outcomes after Neonatal Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy. Pediatrics. 2021 Feb; 147(2).
  • Song Y, Renoul E, Acord S, Johnson YR, Marks W, Alexandrakis G, Papadelis C. Aberrant somatosensory phase synchronization in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Neurosci Lett. 2021; 25: 762: 136169.doi.
  • Shandley S, Capilouto G, Tamilia E, Riley DM, Johnson YR, Papadelis C. Abnormal Nutritive Sucking as an Indicator of Neonatal Brain Injury. Front Pediatr. 2021 Jan 12; 8:599633. doi: 10.3389/fped.2020.599633. eCollection 2020.PMID: 33511093 
  • Cardona VQ, Rao R, Zaniletti, Joe P, Johnson YR, DiGeronimo R, Hamrick SE, Lee KS, Mietzsch U, Natarajan G, Peeples E, Wu TW, Hossain T, Filbotte J, Chandel A, Distler A, Shenberger J, Oghifobibi O, Massaro AN, Dizon MLV, CHNC HIE Focus group. Association of Hospital Resource Utilization With Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Neonates With Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy.
  • Johnson YR, Guillory C, Imaizumi S. Healthcare Disparities in High Risk Neonates. Clinics in Perinatology 2023; 50: 67-80.
  • Bourque SL, Machut K, Chuo J, Cohen S, Johnson YR, Nanda SH, Parsons K, Ponzek R. Discharge Best Practices of High-Risk Infants from Regional Children’s Hospital NICUs. Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium Transitions of Care and Follow-up Focus Group. Hosp Pediatr. 2023 Aug 1; 13(8):716-724. doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2022-007063.PMID: 37395085.
  • Roy SM, Trejo A, McReynolds J, Fagerman A, Johnson YR, Neblett A, Shaheed K, Taylor K. “High Rates of Dysphagia and Silent Aspiration in Children with Prader-Willi Syndrome” . American Journal of Medical Genetics Pat A 2025; 0:e64121.

     

    Abstracts
  • Johnson YR, Barber K, Grady R, Rogers TL, Sapit CL, O’Hara B, Ross H. Implementation of Early Cerebral Palsy Detection Guidelines: A Quaternary Care NICU Experience. Cerebral Palsy Annual Meeting 2020, Columbus, OH. (Poster Presentation)
  • Johnson YR, Rogers TL, Sapit CL, Barber K, Grady R, O’Hara B, Hilliard H, Rustom G, Mistry N, Lee M, Hamby T. Early Cerebral Palsy Detection Program Update 2022: A Quaternary Care NICU Experience. Cerebral Palsy Annual Meeting 2022, Atlanta, GA. (Poster Presentation) and CHNC 2022 Annual Meeting (Poster Symposium).
  • Cardona VQ, Chandler A, Distler A, DiGeronimo R, Flibotte J, Hamrick SE, Hossain T, Joe P, Johnson Y, Lee KS, Mietzsch U, Natarajan G, Peeples E, Shenberger S, Wu TW, Zaniletti I, Massaro A, Rao R, Dizon M. Is Increased Resource Utilization Associated with Improved Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy? A Report from the Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium HIE Focus Group. CHNC 2022 Annual meeting, Atlanta, GA. Poster Presentation.
  • Bourque SL, Machut KZ, Chuo J, Cohen S, Johnson Y, Nanda SH, Rubinos LH, Ponsek R. Establishing Potential Best Practices for Discharge from Regional Children’s Hospital NICUs: A Modified Delphi Study. . CHNC 2022 Annual meeting, Atlanta, GA. Poster Presentation.
  • Roy SM, Trejo A, McReynolds J, Fagerman A, Johnson YR, Neblett A, Shaheed K, Taylor K. “High Rates of Dysphagia and Silent Aspiration in Children with Prader-Willi Syndrome” for presentation at the FPWR Research Symposium held in Atlanta, GA on September 25-26.
  • Berryman L, Shah H, Shandley S, Harrell K, Tullos H, French E, Johnson YR. Utilization of a Home NG Program to Decrease Length of Stay at a Level IV NICU. Poster presentation at the 2025 Children’s Hospital Neonatal Consortium (CHNC) annual meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii.
  • Askari M , Crandall A, Lumeng J, Shandley S, Riley DM, Johnson Y, Ntoumanis I, Papadelis C. Quantitative Assessment of Nutritive Sucking in Infants with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy. Poster presentation at the AACPDM 2025 Annual meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Book Chapters

  • Manual of Neonatal Care 7th Edition 2012: “Multiple Births”, Editors: John P. Cloherty, Eric Eichenwald, Anne R Hansen, and Ann R Stark.
  • Johnson YR, Guillory C, Imaizumi S. Clinics in Perinatology March 2023: Neurological and Developmental Outcomes of High-Risk Neonates. “Health Care Disparities in High-Risk Neonates”. Editors: Maitre NNL, Duncan AF. Clin Perinatol. 2023 Mar; 50(1):67-80. doi: 10.1016/j.clp.2022.11.008

Meet our researchers

Sabrina Shandley

Sabrina Shandley, Ph.D. Research Scientist

I was born in Colorado, but my parents brought me to Texas as a toddler, and I have not left so I consider myself a naturalized Texan. I graduated with my BSc in Biology in 2002, my Master's in Agriculture in 2003 and my PhD in Immunology in 2008. I have 10+ years of experience in human and animal research. My training included a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at Hyperion Biotechnology in San Antonio working on a variety of projects in both human trials and animal models for the United States government. I went on to UT Southwestern and, for a brief time, worked in the animal welfare Institute of Animal Care and Use Committee. I came to Cook Children's in 2017 and began working on neurology research projects, specifically in epilepsy and movement disorders, in the Research Administration Office before moving over to the research center upon its founding in 2019. My research interests include infant feeding and its relationship to brain injury.

sabrina.shandley@cookchildrens.org

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