Vilmaris Quiñones Cardona

Vilmaris Quiñones Cardona, MD

Associate Professor


Department: Pediatrics

Specialties: Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Pediatrics

Education

  • MD - University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine
  • MPH in Community-Oriented Primary Care - George Washington University
  • BS in Biology - George Washington University

Awards & Honors

  • Program Director Excellence Award, presented by Tower Health Graduate Medical Education in recognition of outstanding leadership for the Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship at St Christopher’s Hospital for Children (2023)
  • Al Dia Top Doctor Award presented by Al Dia, a multilingual, multicultural news media organization, to the most accomplished and prominent physicians of Hispanic descent and diverse backgrounds enriching diversity of health organizations of mid-Atlantic Region and making daily contributions to the quality of care in the US (2023)
  • Eastern Society of Pediatric Research Mead Johnson Junior Faculty Young Investigator Travel Award (2021)
  • Golden Apple Award, presented by the Drexel University College of Medicine Class of 2021 to outstanding faculty member that has dedicated themselves to excellence in teaching and mentorship (2020)
  • The Angelo M. DiGeorge Teaching Award, presented by the house-staff of St Christopher’s Hospital for Children to a graduating outstanding fellow teacher, St Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, Pa. (2018)
  • First-Place Winner for Research Day Poster Session, St Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, Pa. (2017)
  • The Sidney J. Sussman Award, for outstanding contribution in teaching as voted by PGY1 and PGY2 residents, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, N.J. (2015)

Memberships / Professional Affiliations

  • Trainees and Early Career Neonatologists (AAP Section on Perinatal Pediatrics)
  • Philadelphia Perinatal Society, Associate Member
  • American Academy of Pediatrics
  • Organization for Neonatal Training Program Directors, American Academy of Pediatrics
  • Extracorporeal Life Support Organization
  • Association of Pediatric Program Directors
  • Neonatology Leadership Collaborative, Clinical Leaders Group, Section of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, American Academy of Pediatrics

Vilmaris Quiñones Cardona, MD, MPH, is a neonatal-perinatal medicine specialist at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children. She is board certified in pediatrics and neonatal-perinatal medicine.

Clinical Services

Pediatrics, Neonatal care, Neonatal-perinatal medicine

Residencies

  • Pediatrics - Cooper University Hospital

Fellowships

  • Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine - St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children

Affiliated Hospitals

St. Christopher's Hospital for Children

Vilmaris Quiñones Cardona, MD, MPH, is an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Drexel University College of Medicine. She is program director of the Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship program at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, where she also serves as the director for quality assurance and patient safety for the Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine.

Dr. Quiñones Cardona is responsible for the education of medical students, residents and fellows, centered on clinical neonatology with emphasis on quality improvement research. Through significant collaborations as site sponsor for St Christopher’s Hospital to the Children’s Hospital Neonatal Consortium she continues to influence outcomes of neonates cared for in Level IV NICUs. Dr Quinones’ keen interest in improving trainee learning experience has translated to a collaboration with the Organization of Neonatal Training Program Directors to nationally standardize the 1st year neonatology fellow’s bootcamp experience. Dr. Quiñones Cardona also has a special interest in practicing and teaching extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to residents, fellows and colleagues, as well as developing strategies to improve outcomes for ECMO patients.

Research

Dr. Quiñones Cardona’s areas of research interest include:

  • Local and large-scale quality improvement research seeking to improve clinical outcomes related to antibiotic stewardship, health care associated infections, among other morbidities in NICU patients
  • Clinical research assessing the safety and efficacy of ECMO and controlled hypothermia in neonates with moderate to severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy as well as ECMO inflammation
  • Education-based research serving as a co-developer of the NICU I-PASS handoff curriculum and co-principal investigator in a national prospective study evaluating standardization of a national neonatal bootcamp curriculum for neonatal-perinatal medicine fellows

In the Media

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Publications

“The Current State of Neonatal Neurodevelopmental Follow-Up Programs in North America: A Children's Hospitals Neonatal Consortium Report”
Quiñones Cardona V, Cohen SS, Cook N, Cizmeci M, Chandel A, DiGeronimo R, Gogcu S, Jano E, Katsuaki K, Lee KS, McAdams RM, Menktiti OR, Mietzsch U, Peeples E, Sewell E, Shenberger J, Massaro A, Natarajan G, Rao R, Dizon MLV
Am J Perinatol. 2024 Mar 8. doi: 10.1055/a-2283-8843. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38458236

“Phenobarbital as a sedation strategy to reduce opioid and benzodiazepine burden in neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation”
Quiñones Cardona V, Emma Byrne, Michelle Mejia, Swosti Joshi, Ogechukwu Menkiti
American Journal of Perinatology 2024 Feb 16. doi: 10.1055/s-0044-1779255. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38365212

“A Novel, simple, inexpensive, and effective technique to remove percutaneous ECMO cannula over a wire”
Abraham B, Quiñones Cardona V, Carella D, Deacon J, Menkiti O
JTCVS Techniques. 2024 Jan 3. DOI: 10.1016/j.xjtc.2023.12.008

“ISARIC Clinical Characterisation Group. Implementation of Recommendations on the Use of Corticosteroids in Severe COVID-19”
Camirand-Lemyre F, Merson L, Tirupakuzhi Vijayaraghavan BK, Burrell AJC, Citarella BW, Domingue MP, Lévesque S, Usuf E, Wils EJ, Ohshimo S, Martin-Loeches I, Sandulescu O, Laake JH, Lamontagne F
JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Dec 1;6(12):e2346502. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.46502. PMID: 38147336; PMCID: PMC10751594

“Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) for Suspected Neonatal Genetic Diagnoses with Cardiorespiratory Failure”
Ikeri K, Quiñones Cardona V, Joshi S, Menkiti, OR
Journal of Extracorporeal Technology 2023 Sep; 55 (3), 147-152. Doi:10.1051/ject/2023016. PMID: 37682215

“Association of Hospital Resource Utilization With Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Neonates With Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy”
Quiñones Cardona V, Rao R, Zaniletti I, et al.
JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(3):e233770. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.3770

“Respiratory support in patients with severe COVID-19 in the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection (ISARIC) COVID-19 study: a prospective, multinational, observational study”
Reyes LF, Murthy S, Garcia-Gallo E, Merson L, Ibáñez-Prada ED, Rello J, Fuentes YV, Martin-Loeches I, Bozza F, Duque S, Taccone FS, Fowler RA, Kartsonaki C, Gonçalves BP, Citarella BW, Aryal D, Burhan E, Cummings MJ, Delmas C, Diaz R, Figueiredo-Mello C, Hashmi M, Panda PK, Jiménez MP, Rincon DFB, Thomson D, Nichol A, Marshall JC, Olliaro PL, ISARIC Characterization Group
Crit Care. 2022 Sep 13;26(1):276. doi: 10.1186/s13054-022-04155-1. PMID: 36100904; PMCID: PMC9469080

“Standardized Scoring Tool and Weaning Guideline to Reduce Opioids in Critically Ill Neonates”
Vyas D, Quiñones Cardona V, Carroll A, Markel C, Young M, Fleishman R
Pediatr Qual Saf. 2022 Jun 14;7(3):e562. doi: 10.1097/pq9.0000000000000562. PMID: 35720868; PMCID: PMC9197367

“Use of vasopressin in persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn: A case series”
Joshi S, Quiñones Cardona V, Menkiti OR
SAGE Open Med Case Rep. 2022 Jun 7;10:2050313X221102289. doi: 10.1177/2050313X221102289. PMID: 35693924; PMCID: PMC9178974

“Reduction of unnecessary antibiotic days in a level IV neonatal intensive care unit”
Vyas D, Quiñones Cardona V, Gilfillan M, Young M, Pough K, Carey A
Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology. 2022 2(1), E50. Doi: 10.1017/ash.2022.33

“Bleeding complications in Neonates receiving Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation and Controlled Hypothermia”
Joshi S, Quiñones Cardona V, Poletto E, Menktiti OR
Am J Perinatol. 2022 Mar 3. doi: 10.1055/a-1786-8688. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35240700

“Eliminating Contamination in Umbilical Cord Blood Culture Sampling for Early-Onset Neonatal Sepsis”
Quiñones Cardona V, Lowery V, Cooperberg D, Anday EK, Carey AJ
Front Pediatr. 2021 Dec 20;9:794710. doi: 10.3389/fped.2021.794710. PMID: 34988042; PMCID: PMC8721114

“The value of open-source clinical science in pandemic response: lessons from ISARIC”
ISARIC Clinical Characterisation Group
Lancet Infect Dis. 2021 Dec;21(12):1623-1624. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00565-X. Epub 2021 Oct 4. Erratum in: Lancet Infect Dis. 2021 Dec;21(12):e363. PMID: 34619109; PMCID: PMC8489876

“Respiratory Complications in Infants with Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) Requiring Laser Photocoagulation”
Arthur N, Byrne E, Kehinde F, Bhandari V, Quiñones Cardona V
Am J Perinatol. 2021 Dec 10. doi: 10.1055/s-0041-1740347. PMID: 34891193

“Ten months of temporal variation in the clinical journey of hospitalised patients with COVID-19: An observational cohort”
ISARIC Clinical Characterisation Group, Hall MD, Baruch J, Carson G, Citarella BW, Dagens A, Dankwa EA, Donnelly CA, Dunning J, Escher M, Kartsonaki C, Merson L, Pritchard M, Wei J, Horby PW, Rojek A, Olliaro PL
Elife. 2021 Nov 23;10:e70970. doi: 10.7554/eLife.70970. PMID: 34812731; PMCID: PMC8791638

“Severe Pulmonary Hemorrhage in a Neonate with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy and Sepsis Managed on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation”
Quiñones Cardona V, Joshi S, Conway D, Menkiti OR
ASAIO J. 2021 Jul 15. doi: 10.1097/MAT.0000000000001520. PMID: 34264871

“Improving Timeliness of Newborn Screens in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Quality Improvement Initiative”
Ikeri K, Quiñones Cardona V, Menkiti, OR
J of Perinatol, 2021 Mar 23:1-8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-021-00985-z. PMID: 33758386

“Improving the Neonatal Team Handoff Process in a Level IV NICU: Reducing Interruptions and Handoff Duration”
Quiñones Cardona V, LaBadie A. Cooperberg D, Zubrow A, Touch S
BMJ Open Quality, 2021. 10:e001014. doi: 10.1136/bmjoq-2020-001014. PMID: 33472852

“Hypotonia and Poor Feeding in a Neonate”
Welgs T, Mahmood H, Quiñones Cardona V
NeoReviews; 2021, Mar; 22(3):e194-e197. PMID: 33649092

“A Case of a Drooling Infant”
Taylor J, Ikeri K, Quiñones Cardona V
NeoReviews, 2021. Jan; 22(1):1-3. PMID: 33386316

“ECMO as a Platform for Ammonia Removal in a Neonate with Multi-Enzyme Urea Cycle Disorder”
Ikeri K, Quiñones Cardona V, Hagan-Brown A, Young M, Schneider M, Menkiti OR
Journal of Extracorporeal Technology. 2021, Mar;52(1):58-62. PMCID: PMC7138117

“Management Strategies during a VA ECMO Run in a Neonate with E. Coli Septic Shock Masquerading as Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy”
Quiñones Cardona V & Menkiti OR
Journal of Extracorporeal Technology, 2019, Jun; 51:88-93. PMCID: PMC6586266

“Successful Use of Doxycycline Pleurodesis in Non-Immune Hydrops Fetalis Secondary to Congenital Chylothorax”
Quiñones Cardona V, Clark M, Gilfillan M, Stevens R
Journal of Pediatric Surgery Case Reports, 2018, 31, 60-63

“Predicting Content Preference: Applying Lessons Learned from the Commercial Web to Therapeutic Software”
Lieberman DZ, Massey SH, Quiñones Cardona V, Williams KP
Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 2008, 2(2), article 1. PMID: 17238628

Chapter

“Neonatal Pain and Stress”
Quiñones Cardona V, Mayock DE, Fleishman R
In: Avery’s Diseases of the Newborn (11 edition). 266-278. Doi: 10.1016/B978-0-323-82823-9.00022-2 (2024)

Presentations

National Platform Presentations

Regional Platform Presentations

National Poster Presentations

Regional Poster Presentations

St. Christopher's Hospital for Children is a primary academic campus of Drexel University College of Medicine. Its physicians are non-compensated members of the teaching faculty of Drexel University College of Medicine and its clinical practices are independent of Drexel University.


Contact Information


St. Christopher's Hospital for Children
160 East Erie Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19134
Phone: 215.427.5202
Fax: 215.427.8192