Our fellows and faculty foster a collegial environment and education-focused culture that provides an inclusive learning experience. Training can be challenging, but our program is close-knit and each fellow brings a dedication to providing stellar patient care as well as a collaborative learning experience.

Our fellows come from medical schools around the U.S. and outside the country. Learn more about our current fellows and see what they have to say about the program:

Mark Kaczor, M.D.

Hometown: St. Cloud, MN

Professional vision: I aspire to become an academic neonatologist that contributes to the field by conducting research that improves the quality of care for all babies and that adds value to my practice by providing strong leadership and expert clinical care.

What attracted you to Mayo Clinic? I completed pediatric residency training at Mayo Clinic so I was familiar with the incredible resources available to trainees before starting fellowship. What made me want to continue my training here was seeing how the NPM program leadership empowers fellows to take advantage of those resources in a way that is aligned with individual career goals and produces complete physicians at the end of training.

Now that you are a fellow here, what would you recommend to others about this program? I would recommend considering this program for top-tier educational and academic opportunities. The program leadership and division itself are incredibly supportive and invested in the development of fellows, and the collaborative learning and working environment that exists among the fellows is outstanding. 

Wentiirim Annankra, M.D.

Hometown: Fumbisi, Upper East Region, Ghana

Professional vision: My hope is to be a clinician educator and neonatologist with a particular focus on global newborn care including low-middle-income countries and Sub-Saharan Africa.

What attracted you to Mayo Clinic? The unique focus on education, the exceptionally supportive nature of faculty, the NICU care team, and the focus on patient-centered care.

Now that you are a fellow here, what would you recommend to others about this program? This program really cares about your growth and development into a world-class clinician. They focus on helping the fellow achieve their individual career goals, no matter what it may be. I constantly marvel at the level of mentorship, leadership, and guidance I continue to receive on a daily basis.

Whitney Thompson, M.D.

Hometown: Rochester, MN

Professional vision: I aspire to be a clinician investigator in the integrated diagnosis, management, and discovery of neonatal genetic disease.

What attracted you to Mayo Clinic? Mayo emphasizes the value of personalized medicine in providing the best possible care for each patient, which aligns with my interests in genomic medicine and individualized care for critically ill neonates.

Now that you are a fellow here, what would you recommend to others about this program? Incredible mentorship and education curriculum, flexibility to pursue and integrate additional interests with the fellowship for a personalized experience.

Kayla Munger, M.D.

Hometown: Vermillion, SD

Professional vision: My vision is to become an excellent clinical neonatologist as well as a leader within graduate medical education.

What attracted you to Mayo Clinic? I originally came to Mayo for residency because it was clear that it was an inclusive, supportive place to work and learn. Mayo is truly amazing at supporting individual learners in their own career paths because of the vast amounts of resources and opportunities available here.

Now that you are a fellow here, what would you recommend to others about this program? I chose to stay here for fellowship because I found amazing mentors who I knew would help guide me throughout my next three years and beyond, and because all the amazing educators here in our NICUs.

Research by past and current fellows

• Uncertainty at the limits of viability
• Interventions to prevent ROP: A meta-analysis
• Remote video neonatal consultation as a system to improve neonatal quality, safety, and efficiency
• Developing a newborn resuscitation telemedicine program
• Development and evaluation of a flipped classroom pilot in neonatal mechanical ventilation
• Universal electrocardiographic screening for long QT syndrome in hospitalized neonates
• Survival of ventilated extremely premature neonates with severe IVH
• Training fellows in neonatal tele-resuscitation using a simulation-based mastery learning model
• Implicit bias training in health professions education: A scoping review
• Consensus on an implicit bias and health disparities curriculum in neonatal medicine
• Development and evaluation of an online program for bubble CPAP education in resource-constrained settings
• Proposed plasma ammonia reference intervals in a reference group of hospitalized term and preterm neonates
• Red blood cell transfusion-related acute lung injury in premature infants
• Association of early inhaled nitric oxide with the survival of preterm neonates with pulmonary hypoplasia
• Size and age-specific outcomes of inhaled nitric oxide in preterm neonates with clinically diagnosed pulmonary hypertension
• Off-label use of inhaled nitric oxide after release of NIH consensus statement
• ADHD and learning disabilities in former late preterm infants 
• Clinical applications of ultra-rapid whole genome sequencing (in progress)

Quality improvement projects led by past and current fellows

• Reducing necrotizing enterocolitis in high-risk neonates
• Reducing opioid exposure in a Level IV neonatal intensive care unit
• Reducing alarm fatigue in the NICU
• Improving infant vaccination status in a Level IV neonatal intensive care unit
• Improving the timeliness and efficiency of discharge from the NICU
• Using video laryngoscopy to improve first-time intubation success rates in the NICU (in progress)