Karen D Fairchild, MD

Karen Fairchild, MD, is a professor of pediatrics at UVA Health Children's. She cares for infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Intermediate Care Unit (ICN).

Dr. Fairchild leads several National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded research programs, including one study aimed at developing early warning systems for sepsis in ICU patients. She is co-principle investigator on a multicenter clinical trial (VentFirst), which helps extremely preterm infants breathe during delayed umbilical cord clamping. Along with her colleagues in the UVA Department of Medicine, Dr. Fairchild also helped lead the NIH-funded Pre-Vent study to better understand apnea of prematurity.

Dr. Fairchild was raised on both coasts, in Seattle and North Carolina. She graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in French studies, spent a few years in France, and went to Duke Medical School. She completed her pediatrics residency at Johns Hopkins University, followed by a neonatology fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She joined the faculty at UVA Health Children's in 2004.

Dr. Fairchild and her husband live in Earlysville and have two adult children. She plays cello and enjoys spending weekends on the Rappahannock River.

Gender

Female

Languages

French, English

Age Groups Seen

Infants (0-2)

Primary Education

Duke University School of Medicine

Residency

Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center

Fellowships

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Certification

American Board of Pediatrics (Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine)

Appointment

Division Director - Neonatology

• 2011-2020 Best Doctors in America® List