Estelle Gauda

Dr. Gauda obtained her M.D. from the University of Iowa in 1982 and completed a residency in Paediatrics at St. Louis Children's Hospital in 1985 followed by a fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Case Western University.  She is board-certified in Paediatrics and Perinatal-Neonatal Medicine. In 1988, Dr. Gauda joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins and had a successful 29 year career as a physician-scientist.  She is the past Director of the Neonatal-Perinatal Training Program at Johns Hopkins, Director for the Center of Neonatal Transitional Care, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development at Johns Hopkins and past Chair of the Cultural Competency Advisory Board for the Department of Paediatrics.

Dr. Gauda joined the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in March 2017 as Head of the Division of Neonatology, Women’s Auxiliary Chair of Neonatology and Senior Associate Scientist in the Research Institute.  She is a Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto and Director of the newly branded Toronto Centre for Neonatal Health. 

Dr. Gauda has clinical expertise in Perinatal-Neonatal care of the high risk newborn and a solid research portfolio investigating mechanisms that control breathing with a focus maturation of the carotid body and its effects on breathing during development in health and disease in premature infants. Since coming to SickKids, her primary area of focus is identifying novel therapies for the prevention of acute and chronic lung disease in premature infants using preclinical animal models  

In her role as the Director of the Toronto Center of Neonatal Health, she has also created a web-based educational interactive platform for continuing education in perinatology and neonatology for trainees and community physicians.

Research Synopsis

Dr. Gauda is a physician-scientist with a solid research portfolio investigating mechanisms that control breathing with a focus on maturation of the carotid body and its effects on breathing during development in health and disease in premature infants. 

Her new area of research is to investigate novel biological mechanisms that might be used as new therapeutic target to prevent the development of lung injury in premature babies. Premature infants have low fat stores and thus are born with low levels of key adipokines including leptin and adiponectin.

Adiponectin, in addition to its metabolic effects, has significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation and exposure to pro-oxidants or key initiators of a cascade of cellular events can lead to acute and chronic lung injury in newborns. Premature infants have low levels of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory mediators at birth placing them at increased risk of acute and chronic lung disease.  

Dr. Gauda has recently determined that adiponectin supplementation blocks the development of lipopolysaccharide induced lung inflammation in newborn animals during the saccular stage of lung development.  

Her lab is currently focused on understanding how adiponectin contributes to lung development and novel ways to increase adiponectin levels during early development and downstream molecular and cellular effects

Dr. Gauda has an established laboratory in the SickKids Research Institute that includes wet bench space on the 9th floor in the Translational Medicine Program.  

In her lab, experiments involving animals related to lung development and mechanisms of injury are routinely performed. She has a senior research manager who has over 15 years of laboratory experience and directly supervises the experiments performed by trainees. 

In addition to her senior research manager, at any one time, Dr. Gauda has several medical students who are in the lab, usually a full-time postgraduate neonatology fellow, and several undergraduate students during the summer, and part-time during the school year. 

Techniques have been established in the lab that include proteomics and genomic detection, cell culture, immunostaining and state of the art imaging. Acute and chronic animal experiments are performed. Additionally, there is state of the art access to core equipment throughout the research institute. 

Dr. Gauda’s lab routinely collaborates with other investigators who will also, when applicable, assist with supervising research projects for graduate and masters students.

Recent Publications

Ivanovska J, Kang N, Ivanovski N, Nagy A, Belik J, Gauda EB. Recombinant adiponectin protects the newborn rat lung from lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory injury. Physiological Reports 2020. [Accepted for publication]

Gauda EB, Conde S, Bassi M, Zoccal DB, Colombari DSA, Colombari E, Despotovic N. Leptin: Master regulator of biological functions that affects breathing. Comprehensive Physiology 2020. [Accepted for publication, September publication date]

Lirette MP, Harrington J, Gauda, EB. A 4-week old infant with wheezing and abnormal movements. Paediatrics and Child Health 2020 Aug: pxaa088.

Raghuram N, Marwaha A, Greer M-L, Gauda E, Chitayat D. Congenital hypothyroidism, cardiac defects and pancreatic agenesis in an infant with GATA6 mutation. American Journal of Medical Genetics 2020; 182 (6): pp 1496-1499.

Crews DC, Wilson KL, Sohn J, Kabacoff CM, Poynton SL, Murphy LR, Bolz J, Wolfe A, White PT, Will C, Collins C, Gauda E, Robinson DN. (2020). Helping scholars overcome socioeconomic barriers to medical and biomedical careers: Creating a pipeline initiative. Teaching and Learning in Medicine 2020; Feb. 25: pp 1-12.

Gauda EB, McLemore GL. Premature birth, homeostatic plasticity and respiratory consequences of inflammation. Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology 2020; 274: pp 103337.

Kuo IC, Levine RB, Gauda EB, Bodurtha J, Clements J, Fivush B, Ishii L. Identifying Gender Disparities and Barriers to Measuring the Status of Female Faculty: The Experience of a Large School of Medicine. Journal of Womens Health 2019; 28 (11): pp 1569-1575.

Liu T, Lewis TR, Moore JN, Kraft WK, Gauda EB, Sartori D, Moody DE, Gobburu JVS, Ivaturi V. Could Postnatal Age-Related Uridine Diphosphate Glucuronic Acid Be a Rate-Limiting Factor in the Metabolism of Morphine During the First Week of Life? CPT Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology 2019; 8 (7): pp 469-477.

Kang NY, Ivanovska J, Tamir-Hostovsky L, Belik J, Gauda EB. Chronic intermittent hypoxia in premature infants: The link between low fat stores, adiponectin receptor signaling and lung injury. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 2018; 1071: pp 151-157.

Gauda EB, Master Z. Contribution of relative leptin and adiponectin deficiencies in premature infants to chronic intermittent hypoxia: Exploring a new hypothesis. Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology 2018; 256: pp 119-127.

Gause CD, Hayashi M, Haney C, Rhee D, Karim O, Weir BW, Stewart D, Lukish J, Lau H, Abdullah F, Gauda E, Pryor HI 2nd. Mucous fistula refeeding decreases parenteral nutrition exposure in postsurgical premature neonates. Journal of Pediatric Surgery 2016; 51 (11): pp 1759-1765.

Master ZR. Porzionato A, Kesavan K, Mason A, Chavez-Valdez R, Shirahata M, Gauda EB. Lipopolysaccharide Exposure during the early postnatal period adversely affects the structure and function of the developing rat carotid body. Journal of Applied Physiology 2016; 121 (3): pp 816-827.

Chavez-Valdez R, Ahlawat R, Wills-Karp M, Gauda EB. Mechanisms of modulation of cytokine release by human cord blood monocytes exposed to high concentrations of caffeine. Pediatric Research 2016; 80 (1): pp 101-109.

Liu T, Lewis T, Gauda E, Gobburu J, Ivaturi V. Mechanistic population pharmacokinetics of morphine in neonates with abstinence syndrome after oral administration of diluted tincture of opium. Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 2016; 56 (8): pp 1009-18.

Di Fiore JM, Poets CF, Gauda E, Martin RJ, MacFarlane P. Cardiorespiratory events in preterm infants: interventions and consequences. Journal of Perinatology 2016; 36 (4): pp 251-258.

Di Fiore JM, Poets CF, Gauda E, Martin RJ, MacFarlane P. Cardiorespiratory events in preterm infants: etiology and monitoring technologies. Journal of Perinatology 2016; 36 (3): pp 165-171.