Lisa Letzkus, PhD

Dr. Lisa Letzkus is a NIH-funded pediatric nurse scientist and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She earned her BSN from Shenandoah University, her MSN from the University of Pennsylvania, and her PhD from the University of Virginia. With more than 16 years of clinical and research experience, her work is dedicated to improving outcomes for infants at risk for neurodevelopmental disabilities through earlier identification and timely intervention.

Her research focuses on transforming how high-risk infants—particularly those at risk for conditions such as cerebral palsy—are identified during the earliest and most critical periods of brain development. Traditional diagnostic approaches often delay recognition until well after optimal windows for neuroplasticity. Dr. Letzkus’ s work addresses this gap by advancing innovative, scalable approaches to detect risk during the neonatal period, when intervention has the greatest potential to change developmental trajectories.

In collaboration with the Center for Advanced Medical Analytics at UVA, Dr. Letzkus leverages physiologic data to inform early risk detection. By analyzing heart rate characteristics and other continuously monitored clinical data in the neonatal intensive care unit, she identifies early physiologic patterns associated with later neurodevelopmental outcomes. This work supports the development of objective, real-time tools to stratify risk and guide earlier, more targeted clinical decision-making.

Dr. Letzkus is the developmental lead of the Neuro NICU at UVA, where she leads efforts to integrate early detection strategies into routine clinical care. Her work emphasizes combining data-driven approaches with established neurological assessments to create comprehensive, clinically feasible pathways for early identification and intervention. Internationally recognized for her contributions, Dr. Letzkus is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and has held leadership roles within the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine. Her work continues to advance a paradigm shift toward earlier, more precise identification—ensuring that infants are connected to intervention at the time it matters most.