Doctor's Bio
Dr. Michelle-Marie Peña, MD, MSHP, FAAP, is a neonatologist who specializes in caring for premature and other high-risk newborns. At Grady, she cares for babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and works closely with parents to support their baby’s health, growth, and development.
Dr. Peña has a special interest in practices that strengthen the connection between parents and their newborns, including breastfeeding and kangaroo care, or skin-to-skin contact between a baby and parent. She leads efforts at Grady to increase access to these practices and help more families participate in their baby’s care while in the NICU.
Dr. Peña earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed her pediatric and neonatology training at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is also an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine.
Her research focuses on improving care for high-risk mothers and babies and ensuring families have access to proven practices that can improve outcomes for premature infants.
Board Certifications
American Board of Pediatrics
Affiliations
Emory
Education & Training
- Medical School: Harvard Medical School
- Internship: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Residency: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Fellowships
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Locations and Directions
Grady Memorial Hospital
Phone: (404) 616-1000
Location:
80 Jesse Hill Jr Drive SE
Atlanta, GA 30303
Publications
- Social drivers in lactation for mothers of very premature infants.
Kalluri NS, Peña MM, Parker MG
Seminars in perinatology. 2026;50(4):152232.
PMID: 42025460 - Factors Influencing Mothers' Own Milk Provision Among Spanish-Speaking Latina Mothers of Preterm Infants.
Cordova-Ramos EG, Colvin BN, Witt RE, Estevez M, Peña MM, Austad K, Colson ER, Drainoni ML, Parker MG
Journal of human lactation : official journal of International Lactation Consultant Association. 2026;42(2):396-405.
PMID: 41906929 - Quality improvement collaboratives: A neonatal perspective.
Pallotto EK, Peña MM, Bertoni CB, Brozanski BS, Moyer LB, Piazza A
Seminars in perinatology. 2025;49(7):152152.
PMID: 40998613 - Interventions to address inequities in infant mortality and morbidity in the NICU and beyond: A focus on the mother-infant dyad.
Wolf MF, Montoya-Williams D, Peña MM
Seminars in perinatology. 2025;49(7):152141.
PMID: 40946007 - Correction to: Antiretroviral drugs induce oxidative stress and neuronal damage in the central nervous system.
Akay C, Cooper M, Odeleye A, Jensen BK, White MG, Vassoler F, Gannon PJ, Mankowski J, Dorsey JL, Buch AM, Cross SA, Cook DR, Peña MM, Andersen ES, Christofidou-Solomidou M, Lindl KA, Zink MC, Clements J, Pierce RC, Kolson DL, Jordan-Sciutto KL
Journal of neurovirology. 2025;31(3):302-303.
PMID: 40536660 - Lack of Parental Visitation as a Symptom, Not a Diagnosis: The Impact of Social Drivers of Health in the NICU.
Reynolds S, Cordova-Ramos EG, Wolf MF, Kendrick-Allwood SR, Nicole McLaughlin S, Rule ARL, Peña MM
NeoReviews. 2025;26(6):e435-e445.
PMID: 40449915 - CuddleCard: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of providing financial support to low-income mothers of preterm infants on parental caregiving in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
McConnell M, Alsager A, Fuchu P, Sriprasad S, Simoncini L, Drainoni ML, Cordova-Ramos EG, Peña MM, Madore L, Kalluri NS, Silverstein M, Schofield H, Farah MJ, Fink G, Parker MG
BMC pediatrics. 2025;25(1):383.
PMID: 40375176 - Fostering Breastfeeding Equity in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Wilson K, Jagadesan B, Browder K, Davidson JM, Rose J, Peña MM
NeoReviews. 2025;26(3):e207-e214.
PMID: 40020745 - Equity in Pediatric Hospital-Based Safety and Quality Improvement.
Dixon GL, Peña MM, Ellison AM, Johnson TJ
Academic pediatrics. 2024;24(7S):S184-S188.
PMID: 39428152 - County-Level Structural Vulnerabilities in Maternal Health and Geographic Variation in Infant Mortality.
Murosko DC, Radack J, Barreto A, Passarella M, Formanowski B, McGann C, Nelin T, Paul K, Peña MM, Salazar EG, Burris HH, Handley SC, Montoya-Williams D, Lorch SA
The Journal of pediatrics. 2025;
PMID: 39216622
PLANNING
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