Matthew J. Bizzarro, MD, FAAP

Matthew J. Bizzarro, MD, medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, has been a neonatal specialist at Yale for more than a decade. He treats a variety of issues related to premature birth, congenital anomalies and respiratory failure. He finds the connections he forms with patients and families in the NICU especially rewarding. “Watching babies you’ve spent months taking care of go home with their families is an overwhelming feeling,” he says.

An associate professor of pediatrics (neonatology) at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Bizzarro researches prevention and treatment of hospital-acquired infections in NICU patients, particularly central-line associated bloodstream infections and infections acquired during the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, which uses pump technology to provide oxygen to the body while allowing the lungs and/or heart to heal. “I have always been interested in infectious diseases, which are a fairly common and often preventable problem in the NICU with a great deal of associated morbidity and mortality,” says Dr. Bizzarro.

Dr. Bizzarro has served on statewide, national and international committees to help address these infections. He was honored by Yale Medicine with the David J. Leffell Prize for Clinical Excellence.