We are proud to announce the Hand to Hold NICU Hero Award winners for 2025!
The Hand to Hold NICU Hero award recognizes NICU Professionals and NICU Units that deliver outstanding Family Centered Care. NICU Heroes encourage and support the NICU parent’s role as a valued member of the care team. The winners were recognized at our 2025 NICU Mental Health Conference on November 5 & 6. Read all about the winners below!
NICU Hero Individual Award: Richard Shaw, MD
It is an honor to recognize the Hand to Hold NICU Hero Individual Award recipient for 2025 – Dr. Richard Shaw.
Dr. Shaw is a distinguished child and adolescent psychiatrist whose extensive clinical and academic leadership at Stanford University is matched by his impactful research into psychological care for families of premature infants. His influence is evident in both his published interventions and his role in shaping NICU mental health standards.
He has pioneered interventions to reduce PTSD, anxiety, and depression in parents of premature infants, including development of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy and preventive programs in NICU settings.
Dr. Shaw’s research was the catalyst for me to start Hand to Hold. He truly was the pioneer in this field. Over the past 15 years, I have cited his studies to validate the need for early intervention support for NICU parents.
With his permission, Hand to Hold adopted his Pyramid of Support Chart to help us explain and illustrate the different level of psychological support that is needed by NICU and bereaved parents.
Dr. Shaw has greatly advanced the mental health care of NICU parents through his research. He helped prove the short and long term mental health impact of a NICU stay on parents and their babies. He has been an outspoken proponent for early intervention mental health support in the NICU and invited Hand to Hold to partner with his department on multiple studies regarding the impact of peer support during a high risk pregnancy as well as post-discharge.
“Through the years, I have had the opportunity to meet with amazing medical professionals from all over the country,” said Hand to Hold founder Kelli Kelley. “Dr. Shaw stands out because of his quiet humility and dedication to changing clinical interventions in the NICU.”
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Shaw and honoring him as a true NICU Hero!
NICU Hero Team Award: Ascension Dell Children’s Medical Center NICU, Austin, TX
It is our honor to recognize the Hand to Hold NICU Hero Team Award recipient for 2025 – Ascension Dell Children’s Medical Center NICU in Austin, TX.
Ascension Dell Children’s has carefully curated a multi-tiered, interdisciplinary team providing continuous care from prenatal to post discharge. Key interventions and innovations include PMAD screenings, Baby Steps meetings, Trauma-Informed Care, Infant Mental Health Awareness, and Mother’s Own Milk Initiative.
This starts with Universal Psychosocial Assessment and PMAD screening at the first appointment in the fetal clinic (if needed) and then transitions to consulting with neonatology/subspecialists in prenatal care followed by additional PMAD screening, and weekly psychosocial rounds throughout the NICU stay. The NICU Care Coordinator coordinates all aspects of transition home for the family including scheduling of follow up appointments, parent teaching, doc-to-doc handoff with parent involvement and collaboration with the full team. The psychosocial team rounds weekly to discuss all NICU families, initiatives to improve mental well-being and bonding and is championed by physician and nursing leadership.
One member of the Ascension Dell Children’s team said that the psychosocial team, “Helps me provide effective family centered care and provides more awareness of family dynamics and social situations which I feel leads to better understanding and less biased care.” Since implementation of this practice all Dell Children’s consumer experience scores have increased.
I had the privilege of attending a session at TCHMB this summer where the Dell psychosocial team presented their unique model.
Panelists included Lisa Boyars (bo-YAARZ), MC, Psychiatrist; Kathleen Stanton, PhD, PMH-C, Psychologist; Melissa Marnell, BSN, RN, Clinical Nurse Manager of NICU and Transport Team; Katie Scott, LCSW, NICU Social Worker & Case Manager; Cheryl Kifer (KY-fer), BSN, RN, Perinatal/NICU Nurse Navigator and John Loyd, MD, Chief of Neonatology.
I was particularly impressed by the inclusive, wrap around support that the team is curating for their families. As a parent who walked the halls of that NICU more than 15 years ago, and felt incredibly supported by the Family Centered Care model that was in place then, I am awe struck by the advances since and feel that this team deserves to be recognized for their commitment to providing both excellent medical and mental healthcare to the families in their care.
Congratulations to the team at Ascension Dell Children’s Medical Center! You truly are a group of outstanding NICU Heroes, and we are so grateful for the work you do.