The NEC Society, a 501(c)(3) patient-led organization, is honored to welcome Dr. Aloka Patel to the organization’s Scientific Advisory Council. Dr. Patel is a neonatologist at Rush University Children’s Hospital. Much of Dr. Patel’s work is dedicated to advancing research focused on human milk, infant gut microbiota, and risk reduction for NEC. Dr. Patel has received NIH support for her health equity research focused on reducing disparities in human milk provision for preterm infants.

Dr. Patel served as faculty at the NEC Symposium in Davis, CA as well as Ann Arbor, MI. Jennifer Canvasser, founder and executive director of the NEC Society, shares, “We are honored and thrilled to welcome Dr. Patel to our team. Her extraordinary commitment to health equity, patient-family engagement, and NEC prevention will strengthen our capacity to build a world without this devastating disease.”

Dr. Mark Underwood served on the Scientific Advisory Council for years and recently transitioned to become a Key Opinion Leader for the NEC Society. As a Council member, Dr. Aloka Patel joins a team of diverse, renowned clinicians and researchers who have dedicated their careers to NEC, and who are dedicated to partnering with families personally affected by this disease. The 12-seat Scientific Advisory Council is critical to all of the NEC Society’s projects, educational opportunities, and content. To learn more, visit NECsociety.org

Necrotizing enterocolitis is a devastating intestinal disease that primarily affects premature and medically fragile infants during their first weeks and months of life. The NEC Society was established in 2014 and is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a world without NEC.