Ann Anderson Berry, M.D., Ph.D., to lead neonatology

Ann Anderson Berry, M.D., Ph.D., has been named the division chief of neonatology in the department of pediatrics in the UNMC College of Medicine.

Dr. Anderson Berry, who joined UNMC in 2004, had been serving as interim division chief since last spring.

“It’s a grand opportunity that comes at a unique time in the division’s history where I have a number of talented, academically motivated junior faculty who are ready to move the division of neonatology to the next level,” Dr. Anderson Berry said.

Faculty, she said, are leading education programs within the department of pediatrics, doing work in basic science and at the same time providing the highest acuity of neonatal care in the region at Nebraska Medicine and Children’s Hospital & Medical Center.

“Children’s Hospital & Medical Center and the University of Nebraska Medical Center are extremely fortunate to have someone as experienced and motivated as Dr. Anderson Berry to lead our neonatology division,” said Anna Spagnoli, M.D., chair of the UNMC Department of Pediatrics and director of the Child Health Research institute at UNMC and physician-in-chief and senior vice president at Children’s. “She brings well-established research that could have an enormous impact on the nutritional needs of neonatal patients.”

Dr. Anderson Berry said collaborations with researchers and clinical colleagues are helping to grow the academic and research footprint of the division.

“At Children’s and Nebraska Medicine we serve the sickest moms and babies in the region with great collaboration with our maternal fetal medicine colleagues at UNMC/Nebraska Medicine. Because we have developed two nationally recognized and highly specialized patient care programs, we have clinical patient referrals from all over the country, with patients coming from California, Texas, Georgia, Alabama and Ohio, just to name a few,” she said.

Dr. Anderson Berry received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wyoming, her medical degree from Creighton University and her doctorate degree from UNMC and her fellowship in neonatology at the University of Utah.

A year ago she was asked to step in as interim and she is thrilled to be named to the division chief position permanently with plans for continued growth and development.

“I feel like I have evolved as a leader and this is the next logical step. I have developed the knowledge and know the resources at all three institutions to work seamlessly in the role as division chief and as a mentor to junior faculty,” Dr. Anderson Berry said.

“I’m really excited to work with our new chair of pediatrics, Dr. Spagnoli, and to work with Dr. Bradley Britigan and Dr. Richard Azizkhan to meet the mission and vision of the department,” she said.

Dr. Anderson Berry was recently nominated and accepted into the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program at the Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership at Drexel University College of Medicine, in Philadelphia.

“ELAM is going to be really a great opportunity for growth and development from a personal standpoint and hopefully, because of it, I can impact research, patient care and medical education in a really positive way,” Dr. Anderson Berry said.