All Care is Brain Care
Optimizing Neurodevelopment for Infants with BPD
About this VON QI Collaborative Topic
Infants with BPD have neurodevelopmental risks and those requiring mechanical ventilation beyond 36 weeks gestational age may have a greater risk of developing cerebral palsy.
In this topic group of the All Care is Brain Care collaborative, teams will learn from expert faculty and each other to explore and implement evidence-based potentially better practices through structured quality improvement processes to:
- maintain optimal respiratory support and oxygenation
- minimize pain and stress
- optimize nutrition
- pursue other strategies to promote neuro-recovery
Is this topic right for your center?
Use these support materials to decide on your improvement topic and make the case for participating in the collaborative.
All Care is Brain Care QI Collaborative
“Optimizing Neurodevelopment for Infants with BPD” is a topic area of focus for teams participating in the 2025 All Care is Brain Care collaborative. Participating teams choose a topic most relevant for their center, and then choose a membership level: NICQ or iNICQ.
All teams in either NICQ or iNICQ will benefit from:
- Webinars led by experts in the topic (5-6 per year)
- Interactive toolkits of potentially better practices and evidence-based change ideas
- Recorded webinars and toolkits from other topic areas in All Care is Brain Care
- Quality Improvement Foundations online course for all staff
- CME/CNE for all webinars and courses (including all videos from other topic areas in the collaborative)
- MOC Part 4 credits for physicians (with submission of a poster)
Newborn Improvement Collaborative for Quality
Includes: Small group collaboration and continuous feedback/coaching from colleagues and faculty, dedicated faculty team, additional “homeroom” meetings, in-person meetings (February 2025, Spring 2026, and two days at the Quality Congress in Fall 2026).
To join NICQ or request more information, contact John Lester for more information.
iNICQ: Internet-Based Newborn Improvement Collaborative for Quality
Includes: Virtual collaboration with topical community throughout the year and a 1-day in-person meeting at the 2026 Quality Congress.
Join as a Quality Circle member and participate in iNICQ, or contact Pam Ford, Program Coordinator, for more information.
Faculty
Arvelle Balon-Lyon, RN, BSN
Quality Leader: Arvelle Balon-Lyon, RN, BSN, has over 25 years of experience as an international nurse leader and has spearheaded healthcare transformation initiatives at regional, provincial, and national levels. She has served as a Quality Leader with the Vermont Oxford Network community for over a decade, leveraging her expertise to support family leaders and teams in improving care delivery for NICU babies. Arvelle is a grandma of a NICU baby – the most humbling and significant learning of her career. Arvelle’s expertise is deeply rooted in strengthening integrated primary and community health systems. She is recognized as a team and teamwork subject matter expert for improving systems that enhance community healthcare delivery.
Desiree Collins-Bradley
Family Leader: Desiree Collins-Bradley’s daughter was born with a genetic disorder, Jarcho Levin Syndrome. Her medical journey has inspired her to become an advocate not only for her daughter but also in the broader medical community. She has become involved in several committees at the hospital, including the Newborn Center Family Advisory Committee. She currently manages a very interactive patient network PPIC, Patient Partner Innovation Community, of over 3,000 members across the country.
Elizabeth Schierholz, PhD, NNP-BC
Clinical Translator: Elizabeth Schierholz, PhD, NNP-BC has worked in the NICU for the past 20+ years as a nurse and a nurse practitioner. She currently works for Children’s Hospital Colorado, in Denver, Colorado. She obtained her PhD at the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania focused on health services research, health policy, innovation and improvement of health care systems with an emphasis on the impact of the work environment and infant outcomes.
Karen Thomas, MD FRCPC
Content Lead: Karen Thomas, MD FRCPC, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster University. Dually trained in Neonatology and Developmental Pediatrics, Dr. Thomas is a Neonatologist and the Director of the Neonatal Follow-Up Clinic at McMaster Children’s Hospital. Her clinical and academic interests align, with a focus on optimizing functional outcomes of NICU graduates through early identification and intervention.
VON Award for Excellence in Quality Improvement
The annual VON Award for Excellence in Quality Improvement recognizes VON member teams who demonstrate dedication to our shared core values of quality improvement: measurement, evidence, families, equity, and collaboration.
Teams participating in the All Care is Brain Care collaborative (NICQ/iNICQ) are eligible to apply.
About VON Membership
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