Shining a Spotlight on Dr. Ann Anderson Berry
Academy Member Since 2016
Executive Director, Child Health Research Institute
Professor, Pediatrics - Division of Neonatology, College of Medicine
Bio
What do you do at UNMC?
As the Executive Director of the Child Health Research Institute, I am tasked with building research resources that support the work of child health researchers across UNMC, Children's Nebraska and the NU system. I enjoy mentoring faculty and trainees in their research and making connections between researchers to help increase the impact of individual research programs.
As a researcher, I study perinatal exposures and maternal and neonatal outcomes. I am very interested in nutrition as an exposure and also as a potential therapeutic.
As a neonatologist, I care for patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit who are premature or are born with a congenital anomaly or those who have a difficult transition from intrauterine to extrauterine life. Working with families, the NICU team and students in the NICU is an amazing privilege.
I also lead the Nebraska Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative and in this role I am able to work with hospitals, providers, nurses, and communities across the state to help implement best practices to improve outcomes for Nebraska moms and babies.
Tell us about your educational research interests and teaching role.
I have had the opportunity to train over 100 students in my lab over the last 17 years, including SURP and MSSRP student, residents, fellows and graduate students, and this is one of my favorite parts of my career.
My last educational research project was completed as part of the Nebraska Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative. Working to decrease opioid prescriptions to Nebraska mothers, we evaluated an educational intervention aimed at providers and pharmacists to be aware of pregnancy in their patients and choose alternative medical management.
What is one of your favorite/memorable teaching moments?
I love the near peer teaching that occurs in both my clinical rounds with third year medical students learning from fourth years who learn from residents and fellows. This classic educational model of learning to teach while learning medicine is really inspiring.
In my research group I see the same model evolve naturally. Being in a supportive environment where we can learn by asking questions and seeing model behavior means that curiosity and learning will be embedded into lifelong practice.
What do you see as the biggest benefit to being a member of the IAE?
I have appreciated being a member of the IAE for several reasons. This first is the collegiality and accessibility of other educators at UNMC. It is incredibly important to me to have a group of experts in education as a resource for my education work. The second resource that I find to be very high value is the programming. The available resources, lectures and meetings always spark a new idea or lead to a potential new approach in my work.
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you "grew up" and why?
When I was young I wanted to earn a PhD and become a researcher. I was very interested in genetics and early life. The thought of DNA as a pattern or code that makes us who we are as individuals enthralled me. I'm very fortunate to have achieved my dream, and to have earned an MD along the way. That opportunity has made my research more impactful.