Sripriya Sundararajan

Sripriya Sundararajan is an Associate Professor in the Division of Neonatology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where she serves as Medical Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Neonatal Director of OB-MFM relations. Her clinical leadership encompasses oversight of a Level IV NICU, the implementation of evidence-based practices, and coordination of multidisciplinary care for high-risk infants.

Dr. Sundararajan received her MD in Pediatrics from Chennai Medical College, India after completing medical school at Stanley Medical College, India. She recertified in Pediatrics and completed her fellowship training in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine from the University of Virginia. She maintains active membership in the American Academy of Pediatrics (Section on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine), the Society for Pediatric Research, and serves as a council member of the Eastern Society for Pediatric Research.

Her research program focuses on improving outcomes for preterm infants through multiple critical pathways: reducing morbidities including necrotizing enterocolitis and retinopathy of prematurity, studying the impact of red blood cell transfusions, investigating delayed cord clamping benefits, and establishing standardized guidelines for blood product use in the NICU. She has implemented quality improvement initiatives including the WARM bundle to reduce hypothermia and led institutional efforts to incorporate delayed cord clamping into clinical practice. Her work extends to collaborative revisions of neonatal cardiac classification with Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Pediatric Cardiology specialists.

The publication record demonstrates consistent focus on neonatal transfusion practices, retinopathy of prematurity, intestinal microbiome development, and neonatal hypothermia prevention. Her most recent work explores intestinal barrier maturation, retinal blood flow measurements, and innovative approaches to managing complex congenital heart disease in infants.

• Mentor recognition award from the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine and Office of Student Research for transformational impact on medical students (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021)
• Eastern Society for Pediatric Research – Council Member / Co-Chair for Planning Committee

Dr. Sundararajan actively mentors medical students through the Foundations of Research and Critical Thinking program and serves as faculty mentor for Lois Young-Thomas House of the Core Mentoring Group. She has secured NIH R21 and Gerber Foundation grants focusing on intestinal barrier maturation in preterm infants, with responsibilities for IRB protocols, subject enrollment, data collection, and dissemination of results. Her educational contributions include serving as Course Director for the pathophysiology curriculum in the Neonatal-Perinatal fellowship program (2015-2022) and participating in the National Neonatology Curriculum through flipped classroom guides.

As Medical Director of a Level IV NICU, she creates systems to evaluate, monitor, and improve patient and team-based care while coordinating obstetric and pediatric subspecialty providers. Her leadership extends to mediating conflicts between providers and families and serving as liaison between NICU staff and hospital administration.