New neonatology division chief joins USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital
Ramani is board certified in general pediatrics and neonatal-perinatal medicine by the American Board of Pediatrics. He completed a fellowship in neonatology at UAB and a pediatric residency at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas.
USA Health is expanding with the addition of Manimaran (Maran) Ramani, M.D., M.P.H., M.S.H.A., M.S.H.Q.S., the new division chief and medical director for the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital.
Previously, he was the associate fellowship program director for the Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and director of the neonatal neuro intensive care unit at UAB.
Ramani will now serve as a professor of pediatrics at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama. He also holds an honorary professorship at UAB.
“I believe in lifelong intellectual stimulation, improvement in patient care through research and teaching the next generation of physicians,” he said. “Academic health centers promote innovation and best practices in patient care through research and education. Hence, I have chosen to work in academic medicine settings.”
In July 2022, Ramani was awarded a three-year grant from The Thrasher Research Foundation to conduct a multinational clinical study, known as the Azithromycin Brain neuroprotection for Children (ABC) study, to determine whether a single oral dose of the antibiotic azithromycin can be repurposed to have neuroprotective benefits for infants who suffer a lack of oxygen to the brain before or during birth. The study is ongoing in five countries: India, Pakistan, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Guatemala. Through the grant, Ramani is working with a team of physicians and scientists from those countries to ultimately improve the health outcomes for infants born in low-resources settings.
Ramani is board certified in general pediatrics and neonatal-perinatal medicine by the American Board of Pediatrics. He completed a fellowship in neonatology at UAB and a pediatric residency at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas.
In addition to medical training, Ramani continued his education to earn master’s degrees in healthcare administration and hospital safety and quality from UAB. His experience includes expertise in strategic planning, operational management, people management, healthcare policy, finance, patient quality and safety knowledge. His research interests include global health and neurodevelopmental outcomes of prematurity and birth asphyxia.
