2017 Award Honorees

Heidelise Als, PhD

Advocate for infants and families Heidelise Als, PhD is Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Director, Neurobehavioral Infant and Child Studies at Boston Children’s Hospital.

She created the NIDCAP (Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program) approach for the care of preterm infants and their families, founded the NIDCAP Federation International (NFI), and leads the NFI’s world-wide education and training effort for advanced professionals in the field of developmental care implementation in Newborn Intensive Care Nurseries (NICN).

Today, she champions innovation and change in the development of individualized best care practices and tirelessly advocates for comprehensive services and education for newborns, infants and young children with disabilities and for their families, as well as their professionals caregivers.

Liza Cooper, LMSW

Family-centered care advocate Liza Cooper, LMSW, has been supporting families of premature babies and infants born with birth defects in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit for two decades.

Today, Liza provides leadership for Youth and Family Partnership programs, including the Family and Youth Advisory Councils and the Senior Family Advisor program as well as Child and Family Education, as a member of the Sala Institute for Child and Family-Centered Care at the Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone Health. In this role, Liza ensures that patient and parent voices are integrated into all of our quality improvement efforts related to patient experience, patient resilience and patient safety.