Samantha C. Butler, PhD
Attending Psychologist, Director Inpatient Neurodevelopment, Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Program
Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
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Samantha C. Butler, PhD
Attending Psychologist, Director Inpatient Neurodevelopment, Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Program
Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
Medical Services
Languages
English
Education
Undergraduate School
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
1993
Blackburg
VA
Graduate School
Boston University
1994
Boston
MA
Graduate School
PhD, Developmental Psychology
Boston University
1999
Boston
MA
Graduate School
Clinical Psychology
Massachusetts School for Professional Psychology
2007
Newton
MA
Professional History
As an academic pediatric psychologist, the focus of my work has been directed at improving the quality of hospital care and long-term outcomes for high-risk infants, young children and their families through clinical innovation and investigation. My interest lay in promoting resilience and adaption in medically compromised youth through intervention for children, their families, and the health care environment. In collaboration with Dr. Heidelise Als’ and the Neurobehavioral Infant and Child Studies research team at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH), we develop, implement, and disseminate information on Newborn Individualized Development Care and Assessment Program (NICAP), an approach which improves outcomes for children born preterm. In addition, as part of the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Program (CNP), I work to enhance the clinical care of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) through development of a neurodevelopmental service in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU), providing inpatient neurodevelopmental consultation, infant/family assessment and therapeutic intervention as part of routine CICU care delivery.
Approach to Care
I am dedicated to the refinement of comprehensive neurodevelopmental services for the high-risk fetus, newborn, child and family, while also working toward enhancing scientific inquiry and dissemination of evidence-based models to improve patient care hospital wide.
Publications
Thickened feeds for infants with critical CHD: a survey of current practices. View Abstract
Interpersonal relationships after prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease: Social stressors and supports. View Abstract
Simulation Training to Increase Holding of Fragile Infants in Cardiac Intensive Care Units. View Abstract
Sleeping Safe and Sound: A Multidisciplinary Hospital-wide Infant Safe Sleep Quality Improvement Initiative. View Abstract
Caring for hearts and minds: a quality improvement approach to individualized developmental care in the cardiac intensive care unit. View Abstract
Optimising motor development in the hospitalised infant with CHD: factors contributing to early motor challenges and recommendations for assessment and intervention. View Abstract
Inpatient Screening for Early Identification of Developmental Risk in Infants with Congenital Heart Defects. View Abstract
Impact of Residual Lesion Severity on Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Following Congenital Heart Surgery in Infancy and Childhood. View Abstract
Preterm congenital heart disease and neurodevelopment: the importance of looking beyond the initial hospitalization. View Abstract
Developmental care pathway for hospitalised infants with CHD: on behalf of the Cardiac Newborn Neuroprotective Network, a Special Interest Group of the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative. View Abstract
Developmental Care for Hospitalized Infants With Complex Congenital Heart Disease: A Science Advisory From the American Heart Association. View Abstract
Assessment and management of feeding difficulties for infants with complex CHD. View Abstract
Normalize-Ask-Pause-Connect: A Clinical Approach to Address the Emotional Health of Pediatric Patients with Chronic Conditions and Their Families. View Abstract
Partnering With Stakeholders to Inform the Co-Design of a Psychosocial Intervention for Prenatally Diagnosed Congenital Heart Disease. View Abstract
Developmental Care Practice and Documentation Variability in the Cardiac ICU. View Abstract
Neurological features in infants with congenital heart disease. View Abstract
Neurodevelopmental and psychosocial interventions for individuals with CHD: a research agenda and recommendations from the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative. View Abstract
Disruptions in the development of feeding for infants with congenital heart disease. View Abstract
Neurodevelopmental evaluation strategies for children with congenital heart disease aged birth through 5 years: recommendations from the cardiac neurodevelopmental outcome collaborative. View Abstract
A Collaborative Learning Assessment of Developmental Care Practices for Infants in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. View Abstract
Neurodevelopmental assessment of infants with congenital heart disease in the early postoperative period. View Abstract
Filling a significant gap in the cardiac ICU: implementation of individualised developmental care. View Abstract
Preference for infant-directed speech in preterm infants. View Abstract
School-age effects of the newborn individualized developmental care and assessment program for preterm infants with intrauterine growth restriction: preliminary findings. View Abstract
NIDCAP improves brain function and structure in preterm infants with severe intrauterine growth restriction. View Abstract
School Age Effects of the Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program for Medically Low-Risk Preterm Infants: Preliminary Findings. View Abstract
Is the Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP) effective for preterm infants with intrauterine growth restriction? View Abstract
Effects of the Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP) at age 8 years: preliminary data. View Abstract
Individualized developmental care improves the lives of infants born preterm. View Abstract
Toddlers' use of cues in a search task. Infant and Child Development View Abstract
Individualized Developmental Care Improves the Lives of Infants Born Preterm View Abstract
Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP): Changing the Future for Infants and Families in Intensive and Special Care Nurseries View Abstract
Die Pflege des Neugeborenen: Die frühe Gehirnentwicklung und die Bedeutung von frühen Erfahrungen View Abstract
Screening of Newborn and Maternal Wellbeing View Abstract
Approaches to neurodevelopmental assessment in congenital diaphragmatic hernia survivors. View Abstract
Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP): changing the future for infants and their families in intensive and special care nurseries View Abstract
Neurobehavioral development of the preterm infant View Abstract
The Assessment of Preterm Infants' Behavior (APIB): furthering the understanding and measurement of neurodevelopmental competence in preterm and full-term infants. View Abstract
Neurobehavioral development of the preterm infant View Abstract
The Assessment of Preterm Infants’ Behavior (APIB): Furthering the Understanding and Measurement of Neurodevelopmental Competence in Preterm and Fullterm Infants View Abstract
Early experience alters brain function and structure. View Abstract
A three-center, randomized, controlled trial of individualized developmental care for very low birth weight preterm infants: medical, neurodevelopmental, parenting, and caregiving effects. View Abstract
Effectiveness of individualized developmental care for preterm infants: Neurobehavioral and neurostructural evidence View Abstract
Two-year-olds' search strategies and visual tracking in a hidden displacement task. View Abstract
DTI study of the premature infant brain shows that change in diffusion properties of white matter may precede myelintation View Abstract
Prolonged T2* values in newborn vs adult brain: implications for fMRI studies of newborns View Abstract
Children’s searching for unseen events at 2 and 3 years View Abstract
Comprehension of the referential intent of looking and pointing between 12 and 15 months View Abstract
Contingency learning and retention in preterm infants View Abstract
Postpartum maternal mood and infant temperament in Barbados View Abstract
Gaze following at 12 and 14 months: Do the eyes matter? View Abstract
Contingency learning and retention in preterm infants View Abstract
Motherese: Implications for its importance to preterm infants View Abstract
Children’s searching for unseen events View Abstract
Maternal depressive symptoms affect infant cognitive development in Barbados. View Abstract
Infant understanding of the referential nature of looking View Abstract
Understanding the referential nature of looking at 14 and 18 months View Abstract
Maternal moods predict infant cognitive development View Abstract
Infant comprehension of looking as intentional behavior View Abstract
Infant comprehension of looking as intentional behavior View Abstract
Locations