Pioneering Thrombosis Researcher Selected to Lead Newborn Medicine Program at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC

Thomas Diacovo, MD, an internationally recognized leader in thrombosis research, has been appointed chief of the Division of Newborn Medicine and director of Neonatal Cardiovascular Research at the Heart Institute at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

Diacovo has led the development of pharmacological agents and devices specifically designed for neonatal intensive care patients, in particular those with congenital heart disease who are at high risk for forming blood clots. His research team was the first to conduct a clinical trial using a new agent designed to prevent blood clots in an artificial conduit placed during surgery to establish essential blood flow to the lungs of newborns with single ventricle physiology.

Diacovo joined Children’s Hospital from Columbia University Medical Center where he was a professor of pediatrics, pathology and cell biology and served as director of Newborn Research and associate director of Neonatology. He has has been a National Institutes of Health-funded investigator for over 20 years, with projects that shed insight into inflammation, malignancies and blood clots.

“Children’s has an exceptional national and international reputation for its expertise in neonatology and cardiovascular surgery, so this presents an excellent opportunity for me to care for patients with complex medical needs and also to expand my clinical research,” said Diacovo. “I’m delighted to bring our patients new therapies to enhance our already superior patient care.”

“Children’s is extremely fortunate to have someone as experienced and motivated as Dr. Diacovo to lead our Newborn Medicine program,” said Terence Dermody, MD, chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the Pitt School of Medicine and physician-in-chief and scientific director at Children’s Hospital. “He brings well-established research that could have an enormous impact on neonatal patients with congenital heart disease.”

Diacovo has authored more than 40 publications, including many in leading journals, such as Blood, Cancer Cell, Circulation, Journal of Clinical Investigation and New England Journal of Medicine.

Diacovo completed a fellowship in neonatology and postdoctoral training in cell biology at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Center for Blood Research at Harvard Medical School.

The Division of Newborn Medicine provides care to newborns with life-threatening medical emergencies and congenital malformations. Children’s has partnered with hospitals including Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, UPMC Hamot and UPMC Mercy to provide newborn medicine services to infants.

Children’s also houses a Level IV neonatal intensive care unit, to provide the highest level of care for newborns with complex surgical and medical conditions. The program is ranked among the top neonatology programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report.

For more information on Diacovo and the Division of Newborn Medicine at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, please visit www.chp.edu.