The Hallam Hurt Professorship of Neonatology

The Professorship was established by the Department of Neonatology in 2014 to recognize outstanding contributions to neonatal-perinatal research, clinical care, and teaching. The chair is awarded to a meritorious faculty member engaged in these activities. It honors the accomplishments of Hallam Hurt, MD.

A Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine, Dr. Hurt is known for her research on gestational drug exposure, particularly for her long-running study on the effects of prenatal exposure to cocaine. She is also an expert on the effects of poverty on the cognitive outcomes of infants and children. Since 2003, she has served at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) as Medical Director of Special Babies Clinic and Attending Neonatologist at CHOP Newborn Care at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Current Chairholder
Rebecca A. Simmons, MD

Rebecca A. Simmons, MD completed her MD and pediatric residency at the University of Arizona in Tucson and her fellowship in neonatal-perinatal medicine at UCSF. She is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine and an Attending Physician at CHOP. Her research focuses on the causal mechanistic links between the intrauterine milieu with type II diabetes and obesity in the adult with a focus on epigenetics and mitochondria function.

Dr. Simmons has received many awards for her research and is a member of several academic honorary societies, including the Perinatal Research Society and the Academic Pediatric Society. Dr. Simmons is the Co-Principal Investigator of the March of Dimes Preterm Birth Research Center and Co-Director of the Center for Excellence in Environment and Toxicology Research at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Simmons has mentored over 50 postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, medical students, and undergraduates.