Freshman class

The smallest patients

Katherine Gregory, assistant professor of nursing

Ph.D., Boston College William F. Connell School of Nursing

Specialization: Development of preterm infants

Representative publication: “Update on Nutrition for Preterm and Full-Term Infants,” Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing

My research focuses on the nutrition, growth and development of preterm infants. How and what we feed preterm infants plays a significant role in the short- and long-term health outcomes for our smallest patients.

The sophisticated technology and drug therapies that have been introduced in neonatal intensive care have revolutionized nursing practice and the care of critically ill newborns. I became interested in preterm infant nutrition and feeding as I began seeing more and more babies survive beyond what would have been expected only a few years earlier. How to best take care of these babies and help them to grow led me to clinical research. It is my hope that I will make a contribution as a nurse researcher towards the optimal clinical outcome for these infants and their families.