Katherine Ottolini, MD

Katherine M. Ottolini, M.D., is an Attending Neonatologist at Children’s National Hospital and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dr. Ottolini first realized the importance of nutrition as a modifiable intervention for the health of preterm infants as a pediatric resident at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. As a neonatology fellow, she investigated the impact of early nutrition on preterm brain development during the extrauterine third trimester using advanced quantitative brain magnetic resonance imaging in the Developing Brain Institute at Children’s National Hospital. After serving as a neonatologist in the U.S. Air Force in Okinawa, Japan for four years, she returned to Children’s National Hospital to continue investigating the relationship between preterm nutrition, growth, and neurodevelopment. She remains dedicated to employing innovative, non-invasive methods, including human milk analysis and quantitative brain magnetic resonance imaging, to address critical knowledge gaps regarding the ideal nutritional interventions to support optimal preterm growth and brain development throughout the extrauterine third trimester.