Robert White, M.D.

Biography

Dr. White attended Notre Dame in the class of 1971, then graduated from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1974. He did a Pediatrics Residency and Neonatology fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital, along with a research fellowship at the Wellcome Research Laboratory in London, England. After completing this training, Dr. White came to Memorial Hospital of South Bend where he helped start the Newborn ICU (NICU) program.

In the process of building the neonatology program at Memorial (now Beacon Children’s Hospital), Dr. White recognized opportunities for growth in how students are prepared for a career in medicine, in how NICUs are built and operated for the benefit of their patients, families and caregivers, and the importance of research in advancing the still young specialty of neonatology – perspectives that, in partnership with Beacon and Notre Dame, have since promoted advances in neonatal care locally, nationally, and internationally. By 1990, Notre Dame faculty in the Departments of Psychology, Preprofessional Studies, and Anthropology were instrumental in all three aspects of teaching, research, and developing design standards for NICUs around the world. A course entitled Psychology and Medicine, which Dr. White co-teaches with Dr. Kolberg, helps undergraduates at Notre Dame prepare for many of the service opportunities and emotional challenges of a career in medicine. Research in the Beacon NICU has been conducted by faculty in several departments, identifying biological and psychological development of NICU patients and their families. In 1990, Dr. White convened a group of experts in developmental biology, psychology, architecture, nursing, and neonatology to examine the role of the physical environment in the care and development of the infants in the NICU. The Recommended Standards for newborn ICU design, now in its 10^th edition, grew from this group and is hosted online by a Notre Dame website. Over the years, these recommendations have been adopted by national and international agencies that write hospital building codes, leading to standardization and improvement of working space and equipment, parent space and staff space. The most significant changes came in the area of transitioning from large ward-style NICUs to single-family rooms and now couplet care rooms, but many other changes followed from the work of this group, including improvements in space for families, optimal lighting, noise control, and infection prevention.

Dr. White and Dr. Kolberg have been leaders for the annual Gravens Conference on the Physical and Developmental Environment of the High-Risk Infant, now in its 38^th year, where the most current research and concepts of neonatal and family-centered care are presented. Dr. White also supports courses at Notre Dame on Film and the Physician, Embryology, Spirituality and Medicine, and Compassionate Care in Medicine, all of which aim to prepare Notre Dame students for a career in medicine that is not only firmly rooted in the physical sciences but in psychological and spiritual principles as well.

Recent publications include:

• Committee to Establish Recommended Standards for Newborn ICU Design. (2023). Recommended Standards for Newborn ICU Design: Report of the Tenth Consensus Conference on Newborn ICU Design. Journal of Perinatology 43 (Suppl 1). 2-16
• Machry Herminia, Joseph Anjali, White Robert, Allison David. (2023). Designing for Family Engagement in Neonatal ICUs: How Is the Interior Design of Single-Family Rooms Supporting Family Behaviors, From Passive to Active? HERD Jul;16(3):238-260 doi: 10.1177/19375867231168651. Epub 2023 May 8
• Parikh P, White RD, Tolia VN, Reyburn B, Guillory C, Ahmad KA. (2024). Variability in Practice and Implementation of Oxygen Target Saturation Policies in United States' Neonatal Intensive Care Units. Am J Perinatol. 2024 Sep;41(12):1728-1735. doi: 10.1055/s-0044-1780523. Epub 2024 Feb 19
• Invited Editorial: White RD. (2020). Right lighting in the NICU. Acta Paediatrica; 109:1288-9

Professional Organizations

• Fellow, American Academy of Pediatrics
• Perinatal Pediatrics Committee on Practice 2001 - 2012
• Planning Committee for Perinatal Pediatrics Annual Meeting 2006 – 2014; Chair 2010-2013
• AAP representative to the AAMI Committee on Incubators 2005-present committee co-chair 2014-2023
• US representative to the International Electrotechnical Commission – Paediatric Equipment 2005-2023.
• Treasurer, Indiana Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics 1999-2002; Board of Directors 1998 – 2015.
• Indiana Neonatal Society (President 1988-1990)
• Indiana Perinatal Association/Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition (President 1989-91); Chairman, Consensus Committee on Safe Sleep for Babies
• Indiana Perinatal Health Planning Group (Chairman 1995-2000)