Lina Chalak, M.D. Titles and Appointments Chief, Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Professor & Division Chief Endowed Title The William Buchanan Chair in Pediatrics Schools Medical School Departments 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 Education 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 Graduate School UT Southwestern Medical Center (2011), Master of Clinical Science Other UT Southwestern Medical Center (2011), Master of Clinical Science Other UT Southwestern Medical Center (2011), Master of Clinical Science Research Interest Asphyxia Hypothermia Neonatal brain injury Publications Treatment guided by cerebral oximetry monitoring in extremely preterm infants: a Bayesian analysis of the SafeBoosC-III randomised clinical trial Author Collaboration ST, Hansen ML, Olsen MH, Lange T, Gluud C, Haugegaard T, Christensen R, Thabane L, Greisen G, Jakobsen JC, Yin Z, Peng Z, Vesoulis Z, Xu X, Gao X, Karadyova V, Nordvik T, Szczapa T, Karen T, Marciniak S, Fredly S, Kersin SG, Hyttel-Sørensen S, Pisoni S, Zeng S, Rao SA, Oguz SS, 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, Rasmussen MI, Chalak L Trials 2026 Dec 27 Treatment guided by cerebral oximetry in newborns receiving invasive mechanical ventilation: study protocol for step one of the SafeBoosC-IIIv randomised clinical trial Kamp CB, Petersen JJ, Hansen ML, Pellicer A, Naulaers G, Dempsey E, Hahn GH, Olsen MH, Rasmussen MI, Pichler G, Dimitriou G, Szczapa T, Ognean ML, Nesargi S, Musante G, Chalak L, Di Maio M, Lakhwani J, Procianoy RS, Tkaczyk J, Fuchs H, Cetinkaya M, Hagmann C, Popat H, Fabres J, Wang L, Schmölzer G, Fumagalli M, Piris-Borregas S, Mohora R, Zafra P, Sarafidis K, Alsina-Casanova M, Baik-Schneditz N, Lopez LS, Griesmaier E, Hatzidaki E, A S, Dassios T, Greisen G, Jakobsen JC Trials 2026 Dec 27 Treatment guided by cerebral oximetry in mechanically ventilated newborns: a statistical analysis plan for step one of the SafeBoosC-IIIv randomised clinical trial Petersen JJ, Kamp CB, Olsen MH, Hansen ML, Thorlund K, Pellicer A, Naulaers G, Dempsey E, Hahn GH, Andersen PB, Rasmussen MI, Pichler G, Dimitriou G, Szczapa T, Ognean ML, Nesargi S, Musante G, Chalak L, Di Maio M, Lakhwani J, Procianoy RS, Tkaczyk J, Fuchs H, Cetinkaya M, Hagmann C, Popat H, Fabres J, Wang L, Schmölzer G, Piris-Borregas S, Mohora R, Zafra P, Sarafidis K, Alsina-Casanova M, Baik-Schneditz N, Lopez LS, Griesmaier E, Hatzidaki E, Shashidhar A, Dassios T, Arruza L, Greisen G, Jakobsen JC Trials 2026 Dec 27 Inter-center variations in length of hospitalization for infants with congenital jejunal or ileal atresia Author Collaboration CH, Huff KA, Zaniletti I, McNelis K, Ladd A, Azzuqa A, Coghill CH, Robinson DT, Premkumar MH, Denning PW, Kim J, Corkins MR, Adler A, Bodkin D, Rudolph J, Moore A, Strobel KM, Padula MA, Grover TR, Murthy K, Nayak SP, Welch C, Sullivan K, Short BL, Lee KS, Van Marter L, Downey A, Rao R, Brozanski B, Jacobsen E, DiGeronimo R, Speziale M, Ling CY, Bendel-Stenzel E, Yanowitz T, Griffiths P, Quinones V, Padula M, Weiss A, Wadhawan R, Dereddy N, Mikhael M, Birge N, Williams P, Tipple T, Joe P, Lagatta J, Weems M, Chalak L, Yallapragada S, Acun C Journal of Perinatology 2026 May 46 786-793 A Pilot Study on Dynamic Multimodal Neuromonitoring for Predicting Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy Kota S, Bitar L, Sepulveda P, Norasteh S, Liu H, Chalak LF Developmental Neuroscience 2026 Mar 48 85-96 Agreement Between Telemedicine and In-Person Examination for Neonatal Hypothermia Decisions Jagarapu J, Angelis D, Mir IN, Kakkilaya V, Brown SL, Chalak LF Pediatrics 2026 Mar 157 Intermittent Hypoxemia and Brain Injury Biomarker S100B in Preterm Infants Abu Jawdeh EG, Van Eldik LJ, Stevenson J, Patwardhan A, Westgate PM, Chalak L, Martin RJ, Bada HS Neonatology 2026 Feb 1-8 Congenital diaphragmatic hernia outcomes: navigating center-to-center variability in level 4 NICUs in the Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium Author Collaboration ob, Guner YS, Zaniletti I, Grover TR, Gowda SH, Porta NF, Padula MA, Keene S, Mahmood B, Evans JR, Hedrick HL, Murthy K, Welch C, Sullivan K, Short BL, Lee KS, Van Marter L, Downey A, Rao R, Brozanski B, Jacobsen E, DiGeronimo R, Speziale M, Ling CY, Bendel-Stenzel E, Yanowitz T, Griffiths P, Quinones V, Padula M, Weiss A, Wadhawan R, Dereddy N, Mikhael M, Birge N, Williams P, Tipple T, Joe P, Lagatta J, Weems M, Menda N, Chapman R, Carroll L, Weiner J, Lindower J, Rose R, Reber K, Katarkan L, Gotiolo A, Chalak L, Yallapragada S, Nesterenko T Pediatric Research 2026 Feb 99 999-1008 Structural and Functional Coupling in Neonates and its Prediction for Neurocognitive Outcomes Xu Y, Zhao T, Jeon T, Ouyang M, Zhu T, Chalak L, Rollins N, Huang H Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology 2026 Jan 20 Cerebral Oximetry in Extremely Preterm Infants: 2-Year Follow-Up of the SafeBoosC-III Randomized Clinical Trial Author Collaboration SF, Rasmussen MI, Hansen ML, Pellicer A, Hyttel-Sørensen S, Ergenekon E, Szczapa T, Hagmann C, Naulaers G, Mintzer J, Fumagalli M, Dimitriou G, Dempsey E, Tkaczyk J, Fredly S, Heuchan AM, Pichler G, Fuchs H, Nesargi S, Hahn GH, Piris-Borregas S, Širc J, Alsina-Casanova M, Stocker M, Ozkan H, Sarafidis K, Kraus NJ, Karen T, Rzepecka-Weglarz B, Oguz SS, Thewissen L, Arruza L, Memisoglu AC, Del Rio Florentino R, Baserga M, Maton P, Schneider J, De Las Cuevas MI, Hedegaard SS, Zafra P, Bender L, Farquharson S, Ochoda-Mazur A, Lecart C, El-Khuffash A, Chathasaigh CN, Miletin J, Papathoma E, Vesoulis Z, Serrao F, Chalak L JAMA Pediatrics 2026 Results 1-10 of 214 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)
