When David Berry, a microbiologist at the University of Vienna, walked through the neonatal intensive care unit for the first time more than five years ago, the experience turned the tide of his career. Berry had been working on chronic inflammation conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease. But that changed when he set eyes upon the very small and extremely vulnerable patients there.
“Nothing against chronic diseases in adults,” Berry said, “but it really feels like this is an area where we can do something that could change the outcome of people’s lives in the long term. That really touched me and really motivated me.”
Every year, 10 to 15 percent of infants born in the US spend some amount of time in the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU. Often these babies need extra assistance breathing or eating on their own. Full-term babies that are small, twins or other ...
