About

Ryann Bierer, M.D. is an Associate Professor in Neonatology and Pediatric Palliative Care at the University of Utah and Primary Children's Hospital. She provides neonatology services at four facilities: the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at University of Utah Hospital, Primary Children’s Hospital Salt Lake City and Lehi, and Intermountain Medical Center. She completed a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at the University of Utah in 2018 and now provides pediatric palliative care with the Rainbow Kids Palliative Care team at Primary Children's Hospital. Her specialties include Pediatric Palliative Care, Neonatology, and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She is board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics in Pediatrics, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Her educational background includes a B.A. in Biochemistry from Smith College, an M.D. from the University of New Mexico, and specialized training in health care delivery improvement, error prevention techniques, and palliative education. Dr. Bierer’s work focuses on providing specialized neonatal and pediatric palliative care services, contributing to the health and well-being of her patients through her clinical practice and academic roles.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Computer Science
• Nursing
• Psychology
• Intensive care medicine
• Pediatrics
• Family medicine
• Social psychology

Selected publications

• Specialized Pediatric Palliative Care

  SpringerBriefs in public health · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  book
  PublisherDOI

• The Future of Pediatric Palliative Care

  SpringerBriefs in public health · 2024-01-01

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• Accessing Pediatric Palliative Care

  SpringerBriefs in public health · 2024-01-01

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• Parent Narratives Provide Perspectives on the Experience of Care in Trisomy 18

  American Journal of Medical Genetics Part C Seminars in Medical Genetics · 2024-09-11 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Trisomy 18 syndrome, also known as Edwards syndrome, is the second most common autosomal chromosome syndrome after Down syndrome. Trisomy 18 is a serious medical disorder due to the increased occurrence of structural defects, the high neonatal and infant mortality, and the disabilities observed in older children. Interventions, including cardiac surgery, remain controversial, and the traditional approach is to pursue pure comfort care. While the medical challenges have been well-characterized, there are scant data on the parental views and perspective of the lived experience of rearing a child with trisomy 18. Knowledge of the parental viewpoints can help clinicians guide families through decision-making. Our aim was to identify parents' perspectives by analyzing a series of narratives. In this qualitative study, we collected 46 parent narratives at the 2015 and 2016 conferences of the Support Organization for Trisomy 18 & 13 (SOFT). The participants were asked to "Tell us a story about your experience." Inductive content analysis and close reading were used to identify themes from the stories. Dedoose, a web-based application to analyze qualitative data, was used to code themes more systematically. Of the identified themes, the most common included Impact of trisomy 18 diagnosis and Surpassing expectations. Other themes included Support from professionals, A child, not a diagnosis, and Trust/lack of trust. We examined the voice and the perspectives of the parents in their challenges in caring for their children with this life-limiting condition. The exploration of the themes can ideally guide clinicians in their approach to the counseling and care of the child in a shared decision-making approach.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Pediatric Palliative Care Involvement in Specific Populations

  SpringerBriefs in public health · 2024

  • Medicine
  • Intensive care medicine
  • Psychology
  PublisherDOI

• Introduction and Definitions

  SpringerBriefs in public health · 2024

  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science
  PublisherDOI

• Pediatric Palliative Care at End of Life

  SpringerBriefs in public health · 2024-01-01

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• Neonatologists' Perspectives on Exploring Parental Spirituality in Prenatal Consultations

  Palliative Medicine Reports · 2023 · 1 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Medicine
  • Family medicine
  • Nursing

  Background and Objectives: Values of religion, spirituality, and faith (RSF) are central to decision making for many parents facing extremely preterm labor or prenatal diagnoses of potentially life-limiting congenital anomalies. Neonatologists' opinions and comfort with discussing parental RSF are not well known. We sought to understand neonatologists' current practices and perceptions of exploring parental RSF in prenatal consultations. Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed at a single U.S. academic institution to evaluate the inclusion of spiritual terminology in documentation. All mothers who were admitted with anticipated extremely preterm delivery as well as those with prenatal diagnoses of potentially life-limiting congenital anomalies were included in analysis. After chart review, an anonymous survey was distributed to neonatology attendings and fellows to examine perspectives on exploring parental RSF. Results: The chart review indicated that RSF terminology was absent from the documentation of all prenatal consultations performed by neonatology. Sixty-five percent of survey respondents considered RSF important in their personal lives and 47% considered RSF important in clinical practice. The three most significant barriers to exploring RSF were lack of training or education in spiritual care, differences between physicians' and patients' personal beliefs, and insufficient time. Conclusions: Our study highlights a gap between the goal for prenatal counseling in cases of extreme prematurity and potentially life-limiting congenital anomalies and current practices that frequently exclude the values most important to many parents. Lack of training in spiritual care is a significant barrier to neonatologists exploring parental RSF.

  PublisherDOI

• Intrauterine Growth Restriction Increases TNF<i>α</i>and Activates the Unfolded Protein Response in Male Rat Pups

  Journal of Obesity · 2014-01-01 · 31 citations

  articleOpen access

  Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) programs adult disease, including obesity and insulin resistance. Our group previously demonstrated that IUGR dysregulates adipose deposition in male, but not female, weanling rats. Dysregulated adipose deposition is often accompanied by the release of proinflammatory signaling molecules, such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF α ). TNF α contributes to adipocyte inflammation and impaired insulin signaling. TNF α has also been implicated in the activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR), which impairs insulin signaling. We hypothesized that, in male rat pups, IUGR would increase TNF α , TNFR1, and components of the UPR (Hspa5, ATF6, p-eIF2 α , and Ddit3) prior to the onset of obesity. We further hypothesized that impaired glucose tolerance would occur after the onset of adipose dysfunction in male IUGR rats. To test this hypothesis, we used a well-characterized rat model of uteroplacental insufficiency-induced IUGR. Our primary findings are that, in male rats, IUGR (1) increased circulating and adipose TNF α , (2) increased mRNA levels of UPR components as well as p-eIF2a, and (3) impaired glucose tolerance after observed TNF α increased and after UPR activation. We speculate that programmed dysregulation of TNF α and UPR contributed to the development of glucose intolerance in male IUGR rats.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Intrauterine Nutrition and Children’s Health

  Oxford University Press eBooks · 2013-12-01 · 1 citations

  article

  Adequate intrauterine nutrition is essential for fetal growth, development, and survival. Alterations in levels of macronutrients or specific micronutrients during critical periods of fetal growth and development affect birth weight. Altered intrauterine nutrition can also have a profound and lifelong impact on the development of brain and lungs as well as on the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Knowledge of the links between intrauterine nutrition and disease risk was generated through long-term epidemiological studies. This information forms the basis for the developmental origins of adult disease hypothesis. Programmed changes in gene expression appear to be a key mechanism through which alterations in intrauterine nutrition influence growth and predispose children to disease.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Dominic Moore

  7 shared

• Mark Harousseau

  6 shared

• Brandy Harman

  6 shared

• Katie Gradick

  6 shared

• Claudia Delgado‐Corcoran

  6 shared

• Benjamin Moresco

  6 shared

• Antonia Vitela-Elliott

  6 shared

• Holly Spraker‐Perlman

  6 shared

Awards & honors

• Fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at the Univers…
• Certificate of Palliative Education (U-COPE) - University of…
• Zero Harm Error Prevention Techniques Trainer - Primary Chil…
• Certificate in Advanced Training Program in Health Care Deli…