Neonatology Online Course(s) & Continuing Education

Clinical nurse researcher in the area of breastfeeding preterm infants and skin-to-skin contact at dept. of Neonatology, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet and leader of Knowledge Centre for Breastfeeding Infants with special needs. Member of the Nordic and Quebec Working Group expanding the BFHI for neonatal wards (Neo-BFHI).

Cody is a Clinical Nurse II and serves as chair of a pain and palliative care committee in a level 4 NICU at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in San Francisco, CA. He switched careers to nursing as a result of experiencing the death of his newborn daughter, Quinn, in the NICU. Cody is an experienced educator reflected by his years teaching Chemistry at the high school level. His graduate degree is in qualitative research, which has supported his efforts in improving neonatal palliative care.

Amber Valentine is a Speech-Language Pathologist who graduated from the University of Kentucky with her MS in Communication Disorders. She is a Board Certified Specialist in Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, as well as a Certified Neonatal Therapist (CNT). She worked for Baptist Health Systems, Inc for 8 years before moving to Florida where she worked for Wolfsons Children’s Hospital and Mayo Florida. She is now back in Kentucky working for Baptist Health Lexington. She has experience in adults and pediatrics with feeding and swallowing difficulties including: bedside swallow evaluations, Modified Barium Swallow studies, FEES, and pediatric feeding evaluations including NICU. She has experience with head and neck cancer patient including evaluation and treatment of swallowing difficulties, PMV use, and voice after total laryngectomy including TEP. She has provided guest lectures for the University of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, and the University of Louisville on feeding and swallowing topics. She has presented at the hospital, local, state, national, and international levels on pediatric feeding/swallowing and breastfeeding.

After raising three children as a stay-at-home mother, Dr. Phillips received a master’s degree in Developmental Psychology with a focus on mother-infant attachment, became NIDCAP certified as a Preterm Infant Developmental Specialist, and then attended medical school at University of California, Davis. She completed her pediatric residency and neonatology fellowship at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital in S. California and is an attending neonatologist in the Level 4 NICU at the same hospital. She is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics/Neonatology at Loma Linda University School of Medicine and is Pediatric Department Chair and Medical Director of Neonatal Services at Loma Linda University Medical Center-Murrieta. Dr. Phillips is an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant, a Fellow of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, and a past president of the National Perinatal Association (NPA). She is currently President of the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health (APPPAH), a global non-profit organization with a mission to support healthy infant-parent relationships before and after birth. Her passion is to honor and nurture the earliest connections between babies and their parents.

Cheryl has been a practicing educational psychologist for 37 years. She has spent the last 34 years of her career providing psychological, neurodevelopmental and infant mental health services in neonatal intensive care units and developmental follow-up clinics. Cheryl currently is working with NICUs to provide staff professional development and self-care education. This work nurtures the NICU professional team so they can nurture and support infants and their families. Cheryl is the National Perinatal Association’s Director of Development and Outreach. Cheryl is a member of the World Association for Infant Mental Health, The Pennsylvania Association for Infant Mental Health. She advocates for families with substance use issues during the perinatal period.Cheryl’s passion is helping families and staff to give optimal care to infants and young children. This care provides the infant or child with the foundation they need to live full, rich and healthy lives.

M. Petrea Cober, PharmD, BCNSP, BCPPS, attended the University of Tennessee, College of Pharmacy in Memphis, Tennessee. She completed her PGY1 Pharmacy Residency at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and her PGY2 Pharmacy Residency in Pediatrics at the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health System in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is currently the Clinical Coordinator - Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and PGY1 Residency Program Director at Akron Children's Hospital where she provides clinical services and precepts pharmacy students, PGY1 pharmacy residents, and PGY3 medical pediatric residents. She is also the Section Lead for Specialty Care and an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED). Her didactic teaching is in the areas of pediatrics, women’s health, and nutrition. Dr. Cober's expertise is in pediatric pharmacotherapy, nutrition, ethanol lock therapy, and management of patients with intestinal failure. She is active in local, state, and national pharmacy organizations.

Jim Thigpen has been a pediatric clinical pharmacist for 30 years and is currently an associate professor of pharmacy at East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy. When he began his training at MUSC in Charleston, SC, they were investigating Survanta and he has been witness to and a participant in the evolving world of neonatology since. He has spoken at several neonatal nursing conferences over the years and enjoys helping other practitioners learn about and apply pharmacotherapy in this special population.

Dr. Prescott is currently and Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida and the Assistant Director of the College of Nursing's Biobehavioral Lab. Her research centers around the maternal and neonatal microbiota and it's interaction with host immunity to impact growth and metabolism. She has been a neonatal nurse practitioner since 2010, completed her PhD at the University of Virginia in partnership with the National Institutes of Health. Her postdoctoral work at the National Cancer Institute assessed perinatal antibiotics on the microbiome of mothers and their offspring. She has written several educational and review articles addressing the management of neonates with cardiovascular disease.

Jim Thigpen has been a pediatric clinical pharmacist for 30 years and is currently an associate professor of pharmacy at East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy. When he began his training at MUSC in Charleston, SC, they were investigating Survanta and he has been witness to and a participant in the evolving world of neonatology since. He has spoken at several neonatal nursing conferences over the years and enjoys helping other practitioners learn about and apply pharmacotherapy in this special population.

Renée Flacking is Associate Professor and the leader for Reproductive, Infant and Child Health (RICH) at the School of Education, Health and Social Studies, Dalarna University, Sweden. Renée has a background as a Paediatric Nurse, having worked in a Neonatal Care Unit for more than 10 years. In 2007, she received her PhD in Medical Science, Uppsala University: Breastfeeding and Becoming a Mother – Influences and Experiences of Mothers of Preterm Infants. In 2009-2010 she undertook her PostDoc, conducting an ethnographic study in neonatal units in Sweden and England focusing on infant feeding and relationality. Renée has published more than 40 articles on neonatal care and is the Editor, together with Professor Fiona Dykes, for the book Ethnographic Research in Maternal and Child Health, Routledge. Renée’s main research interest is in the area of parenting and feeding in families with preterm infants focusing on emotional, relational and socio-cultural influences.