A new endowed chair in neonatal medicine at the University of Vermont College of Medicine has been created to honor internationally renowned neonatologist and Pediatrics editor-in-chief Jerold F. Lucey, M.D., Wallace Professor of Neonatology at UVM. Established through a lead gift from the nonprofit Vermont Oxford Network, along with dozens of other donors, the $2 million endowment fund aims to promote advances in the care of newborn infants and their families through research, education, and quality improvement.

On Sept. 25, Lucey also received the 2007 Alfred I. duPont Award for Excellence in Children’s Health Care from the Nemours Foundation in recognition of his significant contributions to improving the quality of health care delivered to children.

Jeffrey Horbar, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics at the UVM College of Medicine, has been named the first Jerold F. Lucey Chair in Neonatal Medicine.

A resident of Burlington who joined the UVM faculty in 1956, Lucey established Vermont’s first neonatal unit and pioneered several innovations in premature infant care, including phototherapy to control jaundice and surfactant therapy to treat respiratory distress. For nearly 30 years, Lucey has served as editor-in-chief of the journal Pediatrics. He is also founder and president of the Vermont Oxford Network, a cooperative international program that links over 700 Neonatal Intensive Care Units around the world, and organizer of the “Hot Topics in Neonatology” conference, which brings more than 1400 of the world’s newborn specialists to Washington, D.C. each year. In 2004, Lucey received the Vermont Medical Society’s Distinguished Service Award. He was elected a senior member of the Institute of Medicine in 2000.

“I am delighted that we are able to honor Dr. Lucey in such a meaningful way,” said Lewis First., M.D., Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at the UVM College of Medicine. “The dedication of this endowed chair is a wonderful reflection on the thousands of pediatricians, nurses, trainees and, most importantly, patients and families who are grateful for and have benefited from his many remarkable contributions to children’s health. Dr. Horbar’s ongoing work will exemplify and continue these contributions for years to come. It is wonderful to see so many people contribute to this endowment as a way of saying thanks for Dr. Lucey’s incredible work.”

“I am very pleased that Jeff Horbar has been chosen as the first Lucey Chair,” said Lucey. “The committee could not have picked a more qualified and better person – he is the clear leader in quality improvement in international neonatology.”

Horbar, who resides in Charlotte, is a neonatologist at Vermont Children’s Hospital at Fletcher Allen Health Care and clinical scientist with extensive experience in clinical research and its application to the improvement of neonatal care. He has worked with Lucey since he began his pediatrics residency at the former Medical Center Hospital of Vermont 30 years ago after earning his medical degree from SUNY Downstate Medical Central in Brooklyn, N.Y. Like Lucey, he has pioneered some of the standard therapies used in neonatal intensive care units around the world. He is a Senior Pediatrician at the Vermont Child Health Improvement Program and also serves as Chief Executive and Scientific Officer for the Vermont Oxford Network. Among his numerous editorial positions are co-editor of the Cochrane Neonatal Review Group and online editor of Pediatrics. Dr. Horbar has been responsible for the development of the Vermont Oxford Network Database, which is used by NICUs around the world to monitor and improve outcomes for very low birth weight infants. He also leads the quality improvement initiatives of the Vermont Oxford Network, which engage multidisciplinary teams from NICUs worldwide to improve the quality and safety of medical care for newborn infants and their families.

“It is an honor and a privilege to be named the first Jerold F. Lucey Professor of Neonatal Medicine at UVM,” said Horbar. “Over the years, Jerry Lucey has been my teacher, mentor, colleague and friend. It is my hope that the Chair will allow me and those who follow me to continue the tradition of excellence in research, scholarship and teaching in Neonatal Medicine that Jerry Lucey has established at UVM.”

This is the second endowed chair in neonatology in the Department of Pediatrics. The first, held by Lucey, is the Harry Wallace Professor of Neonatology.

For more information about the Vermont Oxford Network, visit VON.

Author: Jennifer Nachbur
Email: Jennifer.Nachbur@uvm.edu
Phone: 802/656-7875 Fax: 802-656-8577