The Incubator

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Dr. Elizabeth Crouch, neonatologist, neuroscientist, and physician scientist at UCSF and co-host of At the Bench on The Incubator Podcast, joins Ben and Daphna live at Cool Topics to discuss palliative and comfort care in the NICU. Drawing from her research on organ donation, autopsy, and research donation after neonatal loss, Dr. Crouch shares how meaning making supports families through grief, offers practical tips for approaching these conversations with compassion and good timing, and reflects on the role of chaplains, ethics consultants, and care pathways in supporting a death with dignity.
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As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.
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Dr. Jochen Profit, Chair and Principal Investigator at CPQCC and Wendy J. Tomlin-Hess Endowed Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford Medicine, joins the podcast to discuss what truly separates high performing NICUs from the rest. He makes the case for process metrics over mortality as quality markers, highlighting normothermia on admission, breast milk feeding at discharge, and infection rates as deceptively simple yet deeply revealing indicators of unit culture. The conversation also explores how toxic work environments and provider burnout silently undermine quality improvement efforts.
Support the show
As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.
Enjoy!

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Dr. Shmuel Zangen, Director of Neonatology at Barzilay Medical Center in Ashkelon, Israel, and former chair of the Israeli Neonatal Association, joins the podcast during his California sabbatical embedded with CPQCC. Having already led national QI collaborations targeting nosocomial infections and intraventricular hemorrhage across all 26 Israeli NICUs, he shares what he is learning about the culture, infrastructure, and methodology behind effective statewide quality improvement, and what he hopes to bring home as Israel transitions its neonatal database to the Ministry of Health.
Support the show
As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.
Enjoy!

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Dr. Alexis Davis, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford and Medical Director of the NephroNICU at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, makes the case that neonatology is entering a nephro era. She discusses how AKI prevention through initiatives like the BABY NINJA collaborative, fluid management strategies, and the emerging concept of the NephroNICU are reshaping how we think about kidney health in premature infants. She also addresses the complex ethical and practical considerations around dialysis and renal replacement therapy in newborns with congenital kidney failure.
Support the show
As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.
Enjoy!

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Ra’Niesha Bratton, MPH, CHES, CPQCC Family Advisory Council board member and public health advocate, and Joanne Tillman, CPQCC Family Engagement Coordinator, join the podcast to discuss what genuine family centered care looks like in practice. Drawing from lived NICU experience, Ra’Niesha shares how implicit bias and cultural incompetence harm families at their most vulnerable and how structured family advisory councils can drive systemic change. The conversation also tackles peer to peer support gaps, bereavement resources, and how to access the CPQCC NICU Family Advisory Council Toolkit.
Support the show
As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.
Enjoy!