Mandy Brown Belfort, MD, MPH

Department	Newborn Medicine
Hospital Title	Assistant in Medicine
Academic Title	Instructor of Pediatrics
Phone	617-355-7993
Fax	617-730-0486
Email	Mandy Brown Belfort
Location	Hunnewell 438

Research Overview

My research focuses on the long term effects of infant growth and nutrition. I am specifically interested in the neurodevelopmental benefits and cardiovascular risks of rapid infant weight gain, as well as the extent to which the balance of risks and benefits differ for full term, preterm, and growth restricted newborns. I expect that the results of my research will inform nutritional strategies for sick and healthy newborns with the goal of optimizing health and development later in life.

About Mandy Brown Belfort

I graduated from medical school at the University of Pennsylvania and completed my pediatrics training in the Boston Combined Residency Program in Pediatrics. I completed fellowship training in neonatology and pediatric health services research at Children’s Hospital Boston during which I obtained a Masters of Public Health degree from Harvard University. My primary research interest is in the link between the fetal and early neonatal environments and later health.

Currently, my epidemiology research is funded by a K23 award from NIH and focuses on the cardiovascular risks and neurodevelopmental benefits of rapid weight gain in infancy. Other research interests include: effects of human milk and DHA supplementation on neurodevelopment; quality improvement in neonatal nutrition; and improving the process of infant follow-up for very low birth weight infants. As an attending neonatologist at Children’s Hospital Boston, I serve as co-chair of the NICU nutrition committee and director for fellow education. I enjoy teaching and mentoring students and fellows at Children’s, and also teach clinical epidemiology and population health to Harvard medical students. 

Key Publications

• Belfort MB, Martin CR, Smith VC, Gillman MW, McCormick MC. "Infant weight gain and school age blood pressure and cognition in former preterm infants." Pediatrics 2010 Jun; 125(6) e1419-26.

• De Jong F, Monuteaux MC, Van Elburg RM, Gillman MW, Belfort MB. Systematic review and meta-analysis of preterm birth and later systolic blood pressure. Hypertension 2011, December 12 (epub ahead of print).