Cardiac surgery chief recognized for studies of surgery’s impacts on neurodevelopment
Dr. Jonas and research collaborator Nobuyuki Ishibashi in the laboratory.
Richard Jonas, M.D., is this year’s recipient of the Newburger-Bellinger Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Award in recognition of his lifelong research into understanding the impact of cardiac surgery on the growth and development of the brain. The award was established in 2013 by the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative (CNOC) to honor Jane Newburger and David Bellinger, pioneers in research designed to understand and improve neurodevelopmental outcomes for children with heart disease.
At Children’s National, Dr. Jonas’ laboratory studies of neuroprotection have been conducted in conjunction with Dr. Vittorio Gallo, director of neuroscience research at Children’s National, and Dr. Nobuyuki Ishibashi, director of the cardiac surgery research laboratory. Their NIH-supported studies have investigated the impact of congenital heart disease and cardiopulmonary bypass on the development of the brain, with particular focus on impacts to white matter, in people with congenital heart disease.
Dr. Jonas’s focus on neurodevelopment after cardiac surgery has spanned his entire career in medicine, starting with early studies in the Harvard psychology department where he developed models of ischemic brain injury. He subsequently undertook a series of highly productive pre-clinical cardiopulmonary bypass studies at the National Magnet Laboratory at MIT. These studies suggested that some of the bypass techniques used at the time were suboptimal. The findings helped spur a series of retrospective clinical studies and subsequently several prospective randomized clinical trials at Boston Children’s Hospital examining the neurodevelopmental consequences of various bypass techniques. These studies were conducted by Dr. Jonas and others, in collaboration with Dr. Jane Newburger and Dr. David Bellinger, for whom this award is named.
Dr. Jonas has been the chief of cardiac surgery and co-director of the Children’s National Heart Institute since 2004. He previously spent 20 years on staff at Children’s Hospital Boston including 10 years as department chief and as the William E. Ladd Chair of Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
As the recipient of the 2019 award, Dr. Jonas will deliver a keynote address at the 8th Annual Scientific Sessions of the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative in Toronto, Ontario, October 11-13, 2019.
