Lina Chalak, M.D. Titles and Appointments Chief, Division of Neonatal-perinatal Medicine Professor & Division Chief Endowed Title The William Buchanan Chair in Pediatrics School Medical School Department Pediatrics | Psychiatry You have reached the Academic Profile. For more information on the doctor and patient care, please visit the clinical profile. Biography Lina Chalak, M.D., M.S.C.S., is a Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She is the founding director of the Neurointensive Care program and of the Fetal Neonatal Neurology Fellowship Program. Board certified in general pediatrics, general pediatrics recertification, neonatal-perinatal medicine, and neonatal-perinatal recertification, Dr. Chalak joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2008. Dr. Chalak earned her medical degree and completed a residency in pediatrics at American University of Beirut. She subsequently completed fellowships in both neonatal-perinatal medicine and pediatrics at UT Southwestern/Children’s Health Dallas. In 2011, she received a Master of Clinical Science Distinction from UT Southwestern’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. An active physician-scientist, Dr. Chalak’s research focuses on asphyxia, hypothermia, and neonatal brain injury. The recipient of multiple federally funded awards, her current projects include: cerebrovascular autoregulation and neuronal biomarkers in HIE, as well as neuronal and inflammatory biomarkers involved in neuronal injury pathways. She has led the PRIME mild asphyxia collaborative study and pioneered a “Neurovascular bundle” for a critical real time evaluation of the coupling of cerebral blood flow and neuronal activity in newborns with asphyxia She leads a multi-science research team of physiologists, biomedical engineers with a novel neurovascular bundle for evaluation of the coupling of cerebral blood flow and neuronal activity. She serves on NIH sections, American Pediatric Society (APS) and society of pediatric research SPR executive council. Education Medical School American University - Beirut (1995) Internship American University of Beruit (1996), Pediatrics Residency American University of Beruit (1998), Pediatrics Fellowship UT Southwestern Medical Center (2001), Neonatal-perinatal Medicine Internship Children's Medical Center Dallas (2002), Pediatrics Residency Children's Medical Center Dallas (2004), Pediatrics Other Post Graduate Training UT Southwestern Medical Center (2011) Graduate School UT Southwestern Medical Center (2011) Research Interest Asphyxia Hypothermia Neonatal brain injury Publications Prediction of Neurodevelopmental Outcomes at 18 to 22 Months Using the Numerical Sarnat Score Compared with Modified Sarnat Staging in Infants with Moderate to Severe Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy Author Collaboration NN, Natarajan G, McDonald SA, Shankaran S, Laptook AR, Bonifacio S, Sewell EK, Chalak L Journal of Pediatrics 2025 Jun 281 Timing of initiation of therapeutic hypothermia in neonates with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy born at a high-volume urban safety net hospital Pazandak CC, Martinez MG, Whiting ME, Kota S, Brown LS, Chalak LF, Leon RL Early Human Development 2025 May 204 Placental inflammatory response and association with the severity of neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy Mashat S, Bitar L, Mir IN, Leon RL, Brown LS, Chalak LF Early Human Development 2025 Feb 201 Consensus definition and diagnostic criteria for neonatal encephalopathy—study protocol for a real-time modified delphi study Author Collaboration SG, Branagan A, Hurley T, Quirke F, Devane D, Taneri PE, Badawi N, Sinha B, Bearer C, Bloomfield FH, Bonifacio SL, Boylan G, Campbell SK, Chalak L, D’Alton M, deVries LS, El Dib M, Ferriero DM, Gale C, Gressens P, Gunn AJ, Kay S, Maeso B, Mulkey SB, Murray DM, Nelson KB, Nesterenko TH, Pilon B, Robertson NJ, Walker K, Wusthoff CJ, Molloy EJ Pediatric Research 2025 Jan 97 430-436 Multi-organ dysfunction across the neonatal encephalopathy spectrum Bitar L, Leon R, Liu Y, Kota S, Chalak LF Pediatric Research 2025 Web-based training and certification of clinical staff during the randomised clinical trial SafeBoosC-III Author Collaboration ST, Rasmussen MI, Hansen ML, Peters C, Greisen G, Yin Z, Peng Z, Vesoulis Z, Xu X, Gao X, Karadyova V, Nordvik T, Szczapa T, Karen T, Marciniak S, Oguz S, Fredly S, Kersin SG, Hyttel-Sørensen S, Pisoni S, Zeng S, Rao SA, Suna S, Nesargi S, Borregas SP, Lauterbach R, del Rio Florentino R, Sanchez-Salmador R, Maton P, Korcek P, Agergaard P, Zafra P, Baud O, Vaccarello OO, Koksal N, Baş M, Akin MS, Kadri MM, Fumagalli M, Alsina M, Cetinkaya M, Agosti M, Stocker M, Palacio MT, Ybarra MM, Baserga M, Wilinska M, Arruza L, Cornette L, Yang L, Chalak L Trials 2024 Dec 25 Placental pathology in SARS-CoV-2 infected pregnancies: A single-institution retrospective cohort analysis Le T, Lee D, Brown LS, Payton BW, Sepulveda P, Sisman J, Leon RL, Chalak LF, Mir IN Journal of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine 2024 Oct 17 623-636 Brain Injury Outcomes after Adjuvant Erythropoietin Neuroprotection for Moderate or Severe Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: A Report from the HEAL Trial Author Collaboration TH, Wisnowski JL, Monsell SE, Bluml S, Goodman AM, Li Y, Comstock BA, Heagerty PJ, Juul SE, Wu YW, Mckinstry RC, Mathur AM, Ahmed K, Chen PS, Dix J, Bendel-Stenzel E, Lampland A, Patterson R, Ramos YM, Chang T, Fricke S, Whitehead M, Wu TW, Yanowitz T, Panigrahy A, Flibotte J, Berman J, Vossough A, Poindexter B, Tkach J, KlineFath B, Riley D, Head HW, Maitre N, Smith M, Rusin J, Beserga M, Oveson M, Rampton J, Mietzsch U, Sokol GM, Ho CY, Mayock D, Friedman S, Shaw D, Van Meurs K, Vasanawala S, Yeom K, Gonzalez F, Chalak L, Rollins N Developmental Neuroscience 2024 Oct 46 285-296 Reverse Therapy: Impact of Hyperthermia and Rewarming on Newborn Outcomes Chalak LF, Davidson JO, Gunn AJ Clinics in Perinatology 2024 Sep 51 565-572 Moving the Needle in Perinatal Asphyxia Chalak LF Clinics in Perinatology 2024 Sep 51 xxi-xxiii Results 1-10 of 178 1 2 3 4 5 Next Last Honors & Awards Executive LeadershipExecutive Leadership in Academic Medicine (2023) Executive Council Society of Pediatric Research (2020) Program Development Award Nomination Fetal/Neonatal Neurological ProgramUT Southwestern Medical Center-Leaders in Clinical Excellence (2020) Acarin Award for Outstanding Presentation10th Hershey Conference Equivilly, France (2016) Elected member, International Perinatal Collegium (2015) Elected member, The Perinatal Research Society (2014) Elected member, Society of Pediatric Research (2011) PRS Young Research Investigator AwardPerinatal Research Society (2010) Dean's Teaching Award for EducationDepartment of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR (2007-2008) Best Teacher AwardDepartment of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR (2006-2007) Educator of the YearDepartment of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR (2005-2006) AAP Young Investigator AwardAAP (2004) Professional Associations/Affiliations American Pediatric Society (2019) International Perinatal Collegium (2015) Newborn Brain Society (2019) Perinatal Research Society (2014) Society for Pediatric Research (2011) SPR Executive Council-Lead for Education and Scientific Programs (2020)
