The Incubator
A weekly discussion about new evidence in neonatal care and the fascinating individuals who make this progress possible. Hosted by Dr. Ben Courchia and Dr. Daphna Yasova Barbeau.
The Incubator
#331 - đź“‘ Journal Club - The Complete Episode from July 20th 2025
In this week’s Journal Club, Ben and Daphna dive into several impactful neonatal studies shaping today’s clinical decisions. The discussion opens with the MOCA Trial, exploring whether extending caffeine therapy in moderately preterm infants reduces hospital stays and improves outcomes. Despite reducing apnea episodes, the study highlights that extending caffeine treatment does not reduce time to discharge.
Next, the team reviews a randomized trial on late permissive hypercapnia in mechanically ventilated preterm infants, showing that targeting slightly higher COâ‚‚ levels can shorten invasive ventilation time without worsening long-term outcomes.
Midway through the episode, we feature an EBNEO commentary with Dr. Kira McNellis on early full enteral nutrition with fortified milk in very preterm infants. She explains why fat-free mass is an important nutritional marker linked to neurodevelopment and why “negative” nutrition studies still matter for clinical practice.
Other key papers include cumulative neonatal morbidities predicting long-term neurodevelopment, the long-term academic
As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.
Enjoy!
