Newburger-Bellinger Award

Sponsored by University of Utah/Primary Children's Hospital

The Newburger-Bellinger Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Award was established in 2013 by the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative to honor Jane Newburger and David Bellinger, pioneers in research designed to understand and improve neurodevelopmental outcomes for children with heart disease. The award is presented annually during the Scientific Sessions of the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative.

2021 Recipient - Erica Sood PhD
Dr. Sood is a pediatric psychologist in the Nemours Cardiac Center and Center for Healthcare Delivery Science at Nemours Children’s Health and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University. She directs the Nemours Cardiac Learning and Early Development (LEAD) Program and trains psychology fellows in the specialty area of cardiac neurodevelopment. Dr. Sood’s research focuses on partnering with patient/family stakeholders to identify unmet needs, generate recommendations for psychosocial and neurodevelopmental care, and design interventions to improve neurodevelopmental and psychosocial outcomes. She recently led a team across eight health systems to design a prenatal psychosocial intervention to improve parent and family wellbeing following diagnosis of congenital heart disease. Dr. Sood is an Immediate Past Chair of the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative, Fellow of Division 54 (Society of Pediatric Psychology) of the American Psychological Association, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for Conquering CHD and Medical Advisory Board for Mended Little Hearts.