Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Dr Doug Blank is a consultant neonatologist at Monash Newborn, Monash Children's Hospital and a research fellow at The Ritchie Centre, Department of Paediatrics, Monash University. He is a leader in neonatal resuscitation research and the principal investigator of several trials at birth in preterm and term neonates.
Dr Blank was born and educated in the USA. Between his residency and fellowship, he worked in eSwatini from 2009-2011 with the Baylor International Paediatric AIDS Initiative, providing care for children living with HIV and educating local providers, including creating national guidelines (https://bit.ly/2OYqyW9). He led a national support group for adolescents living with HIV, including a leadership program to train these teens to run the program (https://bit.ly/3tUushg). He returned to San Diego, California for his clinical fellowship in neonatology from 2011-2014, where he started to engage in neonatal resuscitation research.
Dr Blank moved to Melbourne in 2014, to pursue a PhD through the Ritchie Centre at Monash on the advice of a mentor who said, “there is no better place in the world I could send you to learn and you won’t find nicer people to work with.” During his PhD, Dr Blank received the “People’s Choice” award at the Monash University 3MT competition (https://bit.ly/3tCBJCc) and his thesis, “Umbilical cord management at birth” was awarded the Dean’s Award. In 2019, he joined the faculty at Monash Newborn as a consultant neonatologist and has continued his work at the Ritchie Centre.
Research interests:
Dr Blank’s current trials include resuscitating babies during delated cord clamping (https://bit.ly/3tHWvka), lung ultrasound to understand fetal to neonatal changes in the lungs and heart at birth (https://bit.ly/3c9x8l2), and improving team performance during neonatal resuscitation through video review of emergencies. He is involved in preclinical trials and working with the world-class scientists in the Ritchie Centre (https://bit.ly/2Oqecpd). He coordinates the education program for NICU trainees at Monash. Outside of work he enjoys exploring Melbourne’s excellent playgrounds with his 4 school aged sons.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Neonatology via the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, PhD, Umbilical cord management at birth, MONASH UNIVERSITY
Feb 2015 → …
Award Date: 20 Jan 2019
Medicine, Doctor of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University
Aug 2002 → May 2006
Award Date: 18 May 2006
External positions
Neonatal Consultant, Monash Health
Aug 2018 → …
PIPER-Neonatal Consultant, Casual, Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne
Aug 2018 → …
Research area keywords
- Neonatal resuscitation
- Delayed cord clamping
- Video review
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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SURFSUP: A Surfactant Treatment Method for Modern Neonatal Care: SURFactant by SUPraglottic Airway (The SURFSUP RCT)
Roberts, C. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Manley, B. J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Buckmaster, A. G. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Davis, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Dargaville, P. A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Dalziel, K. M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), O'Shea, J. E. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Owen, L. S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Davies, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Roehr, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Goodwin, A. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Jardine, L. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Fan, W. Q. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Fang, A. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Agarwal, M. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Allgood, C. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Kunjunju, A. (Associate Investigator (AI)) & Blank, D. (Associate Investigator (AI))
1/07/22 → 30/06/27
Project: Research
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Improving Neonatal Resuscitation
Blank, D. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI))
1/01/22 → 31/12/26
Project: Research
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Improving neonatal resuscitation for very premature infants, our most vulnerable patients
4/10/21 → 2/10/23
Project: Research
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Haemodynamic effects of umbilical cord milking in premature sheep during the neonatal transition
Blank, D. A., Polglase, G. R., Kluckow, M., Gill, A. W., Crossley, K. J., Moxham, A., Rodgers, K., Zahra, V., Inocencio, I., Stenning, F., Larosa, D. A., Davis, P. G. & Hooper, S. B., 1 Nov 2018, In: Archives of Disease in Childhood: Fetal and Neonatal Edition. 103, 6, p. F539-F546 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile88 Citations (Scopus) -
Baby-directed umbilical cord clamping: A feasibility study
Blank, D. A., Badurdeen, S., Omar F Kamlin, C., Jacobs, S. E., Thio, M., Dawson, J. A., Kane, S. C., Dennis, A. T., Polglase, G. R., Hooper, S. B. & Davis, P. G., 1 Oct 2018, In: Resuscitation. 131, p. 1-7 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
52 Citations (Scopus) -
Respiratory changes in term infants immediately after birth
Blank, D. A., Gaertner, V. D., Kamlin, C. O. F., Nyland, K., Eckard, N. O., Dawson, J. A., Kane, S. C., Polglase, G. R., Hooper, S. B. & Davis, P. G., 1 Sept 2018, In: Resuscitation. 130, p. 105-110 6 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
18 Citations (Scopus) -
Lung ultrasound during the initiation of breathing in healthy term and late preterm infants immediately after birth, a prospective, observational study
Blank, D. A., Rogerson, S. R., Kamlin, C. O. F., Fox, L. M., Lorenz, L., Kane, S. C., Polglase, G. R., Hooper, S. B. & Davis, P. G., 1 May 2017, In: Resuscitation. 114, p. 59-65 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
32 Citations (Scopus) -
Lung ultrasound immediately after birth to describe normal neonatal transition: An observational study
Blank, D. A., Farouk Kamlin, C. O., Rogerson, S. R., Fox, L. M., Lorenz, L., Kane, S. C., Polglase, G. R., Hooper, S. B. & Davis, P. G., 28 Jun 2017, In: Archives of Disease in Childhood. 103, 2, p. F157-F162 6 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
51 Citations (Scopus)
Prizes
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3MT-Monash University-People's Choice
Blank, D. (Recipient), Aug 2016
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Dean's Award for Doctoral Thesis Excellence, Industry Engagement
Blank, D. (Recipient), 1 Oct 2020
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)