Manon Ranger

PhD, RN

Bio

Dr. Ranger's translational research program integrates preclinical investigations with clinical studies in preterm neonates undergoing neonatal intensive care to uncover mechanisms of vulnerability to early adversity (e.g. stress, pain, treatments) in relation to brain development. She also investigates and tests methods to mitigate the adverse effects of those undesirable events, using various technologies such as EEG. She is an Investigator at the BC Children's Hospital Research Institutes where she works collaboratively with multidisciplinary clinicians and researchers.

Profile

Educational Background

BSc (Nursing), University of Montreal
MSc (Nursing), University of Montreal
PhD (Nursing), McGill University
Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of British Columbia

Affiliations

Investigator, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute
Affiliate Member, Women’s Health Research Institute
Associate Member, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
Member, Graduate Program in Neuroscience, UBC

Area of Research

My research program, conducted at the BC Children's Research Institute, aims at investigating how early-life adversity (such as stress, pain, inflammation, and clinical treatments) affects the developing brain of very preterm infants, using an animal model that closely captures critical aspects of what preterm infants are like and what they may experience in the NICU. The use of preclinical models allows mechanistic studies on how exposure to early-life adversity alters the normal trajectory of brain development. This research, in turn, better informs clinical studies in preterm infants and the development of novel treatments to mitigate adverse effects from these exposures.

This work is motivated by my clinical nursing background as a paediatric clinical nurse specialist in acute pain, and builds upon my doctoral training in infant brain reactivity to pain (McGill University/Harvard University/Boston Children’s Hospital) and postdoctoral fellowship in pediatrics/neuroscience at UBC, as well as my recent work as a research scientist at Columbia University in the division of Developmental Neuroscience.

Current Projects

• Discovering the Immune Signature of Neonatal Pain and Sucrose Exposure: A Translational Mouse Model (Principal Investigator)
• Exploring the Neurobiological Mechanisms of Neonatal Sucrose Treatment Using a Translational Mouse Model (Principal Investigator)
• Neurobiological Mechanisms of Environmental Stressor Effects on the Immature Brain (Principal Investigator)

Completed Projects

• Determining the Long-term Metabolic Effects of Neonatal Sucrose Treatment (Co-Investigator)

Publications

US National Library of Medicine
National Center for Biotechnology Information
My Bibliography

Teaching

My teaching focuses on areas related to paediatric health, more precisely in infancy with a special interest in prematurity, as well as developmental neuroscience, both within nursing and from an interdisciplinary perspective. Paediatric pain is an additional area of teaching/research expertise. To date my teaching efforts have been mainly on research methods and evidence-based practice. My goal is to get students engaged in research by not only increasing their knowledge but also by sparking their interest in this important aspect of nursing practice.

Supervisor Eligibility

MHLP, MN, MSN - thesis, MSN - non-thesis, PhD