would propel her toward formal graduate study . “ Maureen Keefe , Ann Marie Kotzer , Dori Biester , really everyone at Children ’ s was nurse-forward , research-forward , and they supported my starting the master ’ s in nursing program at CU in 1989 ,” Neu recalls . She became one of the first practicing nurses to conduct research at Children ’ s Hospital Colorado .
Upon completing her master ’ s , it was only natural for Neu to get her PhD in nursing . “ I found I could finally get answers to questions ,” Neu recalls . “ Eventually , my network would grow to include the Developmental Psychobiology Research Group on campus — JoAnn Robinson , Mark Laudenslager — people who were really focused on child development .”
CAREER FOCI
Neu ’ s program of research includes a predoctoral NIH National Research Service Award grant that examined sequelae of infant irritability , a postdoctoral fellowship that focused on maternal holding patterns , a K23 award that addressed infant emotion regulation , and an R21 that examined the benefits of massage therapy for infants with gastroesophageal reflux disease ( GERD ). Three of her publications reporting findings from NIH-funded grants received special recognition — two as best journal article of the year , and the other as one of the most downloaded articles of the year .
Intervention studies for medically fragile infants . Neu ’ s early work was motivated by experiences at the bedside with critically ill infants . “ I led interdisciplinary research studies investigating physiological and emotional interventions to