Biography
Dr. Watterberg received a BA in English from Michigan State University in 1969. She earned her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of New Mexico in 1980. Following her MD degree, she completed a residency in Pediatrics and a fellowship in Neonatology both at UNM. After a short time as Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at UNM (1985-87), she moved to the Pennsylvania State University until 2000, when she returned to UNM.
Personal Statement
Dr. Watterberg is a Professor Emerita of Pediatrics in the Division of Neonatology at the University of New Mexico. She served as Chief of the Division from 2006 - 2011, and Director of the UNM Signature Program in Child Health Research from 2011 - 2016. Dr. Watterberg has over 30 years’ experience conducting studies exploring newborn adrenal function, its relationship to inflammation and BPD, and long-term outcomes after preterm birth. She is the New Mexico Principal Investigator for the NICHD Neonatal Research Network (NRN, 2006-2021), which has multiple ongoing observational and interventional studies. She also was awarded a grant from NIH to study adrenal function at age six in a cohort of NRN children born extremely preterm (R01HL117764; 2013 - 2019). She has mentored fellows, faculty and other learners in research and academic advancement. Dr. Watterberg has served on NIH peer review panels and is a member of the Society for Pediatric Research and the American Pediatric Society. She has been an AAP member throughout her career, and has served on the Committee on Fetus and Newborn (COFN) as a member from 2006 - 2012, and as chair (2013 - 2017).
Areas of Specialty
1. Clinical trials design and conduct 2. adrenal function in the newborn 3. bronchopulmonary dysplasia 4. perinatal inflammation and its effects 5. long-term outcomes of preterm birth
Certifications
Board certified in Pediatrics Board certified in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine
Achievements & Awards
Elected to the Society for Pediatric Research Elected to the American Pediatric Society Outstanding clinical researcher, UNM General Clinical Research Center (2001) Faculty Research Excellence Award in Clinical Science in 2017 (UNM)
Languages
- English
Research and Scholarship
1. First studies of the relationship of histologic chorioamnionitis to neonatal lung disease: a. Watterberg KL, Demers LM, Scott SM, Murphy S: Chorioamnionitis and early lung inflammation in babies who develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Pediatrics 1996; 97:210-215. b. Watterberg KL, Scott SM, Naeye RL: Chorioamnionitis, cortisol and acute lung disease in very low birth weight infants. Pediatrics 1997; 99(2). doi: 10.1542/peds.99.2.e6. 2. Investigation of adrenal function and evidence of adrenal insufficiency in preterm infants a. Watterberg KL, Scott SM: Evidence of early adrenal insufficiency in babies who develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Pediatrics 1995; 85:120-125. PMID: 7770288 b. Scott SM, Watterberg KL: Effect of gestational age, postnatal age, and illness on plasma cortisol concentrations in premature infants. Pediatr Res 1995; 37:112-116. PMID: 7700725 c. Watterberg KL, Scott SM, Backstrom C, Gifford KL, Cook KL: Links between early adrenal function and respiratory outcome in preterm infants: Airway inflammation and patent ductus arteriosus. Pediatrics 2000; 105:320-324. PMID: 10654949 d. Watterberg KL, Gerdes JS, Cook, KL: Impaired glucocorticoid synthesis in premature infants developing chronic lung disease. Pediatric Research 2001; 50:190-195. PMID: 11477202 e. Watterberg KL, Hintz SR, Do B, Vohr BR, Lowe J, Newman JE, Wallace D, Lacy CB, Davis EP, Granger DA, Shankaran S, Payne A, Higgins RD, Adrenal function links to early postnatal growth and blood pressure at age six in children born extremely preterm. Pediatr Res. 2019; 86:339-347 3. Studies of prophylaxis of early adrenal insufficiency to prevent BPD in the preterm infant: a. Watterberg, Gerdes JS, Cole CH, Aucott SW, Thilo EH, Mammel MC, Couser RJ, Garland JS, Rozycki HJ, Leach CL, Backstrom C, Shaffer ML: Prophylaxis of early adrenal insufficiency to prevent bronchopulmonary dysplasia: a multicenter trial. Pediatrics 2004; 114:1649-1657. b. Shaffer ML, Baud O, Lacaze-Masmonteil T, Peltoniemi OM, Bonsante F, Watterberg KL. Effect of prophylaxis for early adrenal insufficiency using low-dose hydrocortisone in very preterm infants: An Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis. J Pediatr 2019; 207:136-142. PMID: 30631138;