Luc Brion, M.D.

Biography

Dr. Brion has published more than 60 original research manuscripts. During his training in pediatrics and in neonatology, he participated and conducted studies on growth, nutrition and assessment of renal function in neonates and children. As Faculty at AECOM, he was funded for years by the NIH, American Heart Association, Genentech Foundation, and Pharmacia for basic sciences research in developmental nephrology, specifically renal acid secretion, carbonic anhydrase, pathophysiological effects of acidosis and growth.

Dr. Brion’s academic focus later changed to clinical research assessing neonatal mortality and morbidity and evidence-based medicine. He is a member of the Neonatal Cochrane Collaboration Group. He has authored several Cochrane reviews and has participated in 3 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in preterm infants. Dr. Brion has served on the IRB at AECOM. He has participated in several multi-center research studies. Since 2009, he has been the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Alternate PI for the NICHD Eunice Kennedy Shriver Cooperative Multicenter Neonatal Research Network (NRN). Dr. Brion serves on the subcommittee on protection of human subjects of the NRN, is co-investigator in 3 protocols in the pipeline, and has reviewed 4 manuscripts. He has co-authored two manuscripts published by the NRN: one pilot randomized trial on vitamin E (Bell E et al, Pediatrics. 2013 Dec;132(6):e1626-33. PMID:24218460) and one study that showed changes in practice after a randomized trial (LeVan et al, Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal 2014;99: F386–F390. PMID: 24876196, see C4 below). 

In January 2015, Dr. Brion obtained 2-year funding from Children’s Medical Center Foundation at Dallas for studies aiming at analyzing the relationship between neonatal nutrition, growth, neurodevelopment and signs suggestive of metabolic syndrome in high-risk preterm infants. These studies include (1) a quality improvement project (bundle including utilization of new growth curves, serial accurate length measurements using stadiometer or infantometer) and optimized nutrition (adjusting nutrients based on growth, blood urea nitrogen and albumin) and (2) a randomized trial comparing optimized nutrition with individualized (based on daily measurements of macronutrients in mothers’ own breast milk) and optimized nutrition.

Dr. Brion has been Director of the Fellowship Training Program in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, first at AECOM in 1997-2006 and currently at UTSW since 2007. He has been research mentor for more than 25 trainees. He is one of 4 neonatologists who teach an evidence-based medicine course twice a month for Fellows in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at UTSW.

In 2013 Dr. Brion took the Clinical Safety and Efficacy Course at UTSW. He supervises a team of research nurses who maintain the Divisional extensive neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) clinical databases at Parkland and Children’s Medical Center and databases for the Vermont Oxford Neonatal Network (VON) and Children’s Hospital Network Database (CHND). He compiles and presents an Annual Report of mortality and morbidity of neonates admitted to Parkland NICU and compares them to those of the NICHD NRN, VON and national data. He has used the databases for quality improvement and for research, including preliminary data for the proposed research.