Rose M. Viscardi, MD

1976 B.A., Biology, Mount Holyoke College (Summa cum laude), South Hadley, MA

1980 M.D. University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY

1980-1981 Internship Pediatrics, Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY

1981-1983 Residency Pediatrics, Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY

1983‑1986 Fellowship, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Holden Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, University of Michigan Hospitals, Ann Arbor, MI

Dr. Viscardi is a neonatologist who  is a Professor of Pediatrics with a joint appointment in Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Her research focus and current funding incorporates basic, translational, and clinical research investigations of the role of the genital mycoplasmas Ureaplasma parvum and U. urealyticum in neonatal diseases. She has been the PI on multiple NIH grants that have provided insights into the host immune factors in these infections and she is the investigator-sponsor of an IND to assess the pharmacokinetics, safety, and efficacy of azithromycin to treat Ureaplasma infections in preterm infants.

She is also the multiple PI of the Administrative Coordinating Center for the NHLBI Progenitor Cell Translational Consortium. She is a successful mentor with a 30-year track record of mentoring high school, college, and medical students, as well as pediatric residents, neonatology fellows and junior faculty. In recognition of her mentoring skills, she was appointed in 2015 as Director of the Joint Departmental Junior Faculty Academic Career Development and Mentoring Program for the Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Ureaplasma neonatal infections, Bronchopulmonary dysplasia, innate immunity

1. Winters AH, Levan TD, Vogel SN, Chesko KL, Pollin TI, Viscardi RM. Single nucleotide polymorphism in toll-like receptor 6 is associated with a decreased risk for Ureaplasma respiratory tract colonization and bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm infants. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 32:898-904, 2013 PubMed PMID: 23518821. PMCID:PMC3714365.
2. Viscardi, RM. Ureaplasma species: Role in neonatal morbidities and outcomes. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 99:F87-92, 2014. PMID:2396014
3. Merchan LM, Hassan HE, Terrin ML, Waites KB, Kaufman DA, Ambalavanan N, Donohue P, Dulkerian SJ, Schelonka R, Magder LS, Shukla S, Eddington ND, Viscardi RM. Pharmacokinetics, Microbial Response, and Pulmonary Outcomes of Multi-dose Intravenous Azithromycin in Preterm Infants at Risk for Ureaplasma Respiratory Colonization. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 59(1):570-8; 2015 doi: 10.1128/AAC.03951-14. Epub 2014 Nov 10. PubMed PMID: 25385115; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4291400. Keegan AD, Shirey KA, Bagdure D, Blanco J, Viscardi RM, Vogel SN. Enhanced allergic responsiveness after early childhood infection with respiratory viruses: Are long-lived alternatively activated macrophages the missing link? Pathog Dis.  2016 Jul;74(5). pii: ftw047. doi: 10.1093/femspd/ftw047. Epub 2016 May 12. PubMed PMID: 27178560
4. Saleem B, Okogbule-Wonodi AC, Fasano A, Magder LS, Ravel J, Kapoor S, Viscardi RM. Intestinal Barrier Maturation in Very Low Birthweight Infants: Relationship to Feeding and Antibiotic Exposure. J Pediatr. 2017 Apr;183:31-36.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2017.01.013. Epub 2017 Jan 31. PubMed PMID: 28159311; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5367935.