Shelley M. Lawrence

Shelley M. Lawrence, MD

Languages spoken: English

Clinical Locations

Primary Children's Hospital

801-662-1000

  • Dr. Lawrence received her medical degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and completed her Pediatric residency and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship at the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital. Following fellowship, she spent the first six years of her professional career in a high acuity, tertiary referral, and private practice facility. Upon returning to academics in 2010, she received a Master of Science degree in Clinical and Translational Sciences (2013). She is board-certified in Pediatrics and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine.


    She is currently an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah and is in the Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at Primary Children’s Medical Center. Her clinical interests include neonatal sepsis, antibiotic stewardship, and the epidemiology of congenital cytomegalovirus, neonatal herpesvirus, and congenital syphilis infections. She is also working towards universal newborn screening for congenital cytomegalovirus infection to enable rapid identification and intervention services to children at risk for sensorineural hearing loss.

    Her research interests lie in understanding the fundamental mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis and the neonatal innate immune system, with particular focus on neonatal neutrophil function. She is also skilled at designing and successfully completing large clinical studies, with primary goals of translating innovative diagnostics and therapeutics from the bench to bedside. She has active NIH-funded research in the validation of new technology by MelioLabs in the rapid and low-cost detection and identification of pathogens (bacterial, fungal, and viral) in a single, low volume patient sample. She is also nationally funded in the investigation of host cell-membrane wrapped nanoparticles, engineered by Cellics Therapeutics, as a novel adjunctive therapeutic for neonatal sepsis.

    Specialties

    Board Certification

    American Board of Pediatrics (Pediatrics)
    American Board of Pediatrics (Sub: Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine)

  • Dr. Lawrence received her medical degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and completed her Pediatric residency and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship at the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital. Following fellowship, she spent the first six years of her professional career in a high acuity, tertiary referral, and private practice facility. Upon returning to academics in 2010, she received a Master of Science degree in Clinical and Translational Sciences (2013). She is board-certified in Pediatrics and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine.


    She is currently an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah and is in the Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at Primary Children’s Medical Center. Her clinical interests include neonatal sepsis, antibiotic stewardship, and the epidemiology of congenital cytomegalovirus, neonatal herpesvirus, and congenital syphilis infections. She is also working towards universal newborn screening for congenital cytomegalovirus infection to enable rapid identification and intervention services to children at risk for sensorineural hearing loss.

    Her research interests lie in understanding the fundamental mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis and the neonatal innate immune system, with particular focus on neonatal neutrophil function. She is also skilled at designing and successfully completing large clinical studies, with primary goals of translating innovative diagnostics and therapeutics from the bench to bedside. She has active NIH-funded research in the validation of new technology by MelioLabs in the rapid and low-cost detection and identification of pathogens (bacterial, fungal, and viral) in a single, low volume patient sample. She is also nationally funded in the investigation of host cell-membrane wrapped nanoparticles, engineered by Cellics Therapeutics, as a novel adjunctive therapeutic for neonatal sepsis.

    Board Certification and Academic Information

    Academic Departments Pediatrics -Primary
    Academic Divisions Neonatology
    Board Certification
    American Board of Pediatrics (Pediatrics)
    American Board of Pediatrics (Sub: Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine)

    Education history

    Graduate Training Clinical and Translational Sciences - University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center M.S.
    Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine - University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Fellow
    Other Training Biostatistics and Epidemiology - University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center College of Public Health
    Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine - University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Fellow
    Residency Pediatrics - University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Resident
    Medicine - University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center M.D.
    Undergraduate Zoology - University of Oklahoma B.S.

    Selected Publications

    Journal Article

    1. Bahr TM, Lawrence SM, Henry E, Ohls RK, Li S, Christensen RD (2022). Severe Anemia at Birth-Incidence and Implications. J Pediatr, 248, 39-45.e2.
    2. Bahr TM, Ohls RK, Baserga MC, Lawrence SM, Winter SL, Christensen RD (2022). Implications of an Elevated Nucleated Red Blood Cell Count in Neonates with Moderate to Severe Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy. J Pediatr, 246, 12-18.e2.
    3. Barnette BW, Schumacher BT, Armenta RF, Wynn JL, Richardson A, Bradley JS, Lazar S, Lawrence SM (2021). Contribution of Concurrent Comorbidities to Sepsis-Related Mortality in Preterm Infants ≤32 Weeks of Gestation at an Academic Neonatal Intensive Care Network. Am J Perinatol.
    4. Langouche L, Aralar A, Sinha M, Lawrence SM, Fraley SI, Coleman TP (2020). Data-driven noise modeling of digital DNA melting analysis enables prediction of sequence discriminating power. Bioinformatics, 36(22-23), 5337-43.
    5. Lawrence SM, Corriden R, Nizet V (2020). How Neutrophils Meet Their End. Trends Immunol, 41(6), 531-544.
    6. Aralar A, Yuan Y, Chen K, Geng Y, Ortiz Velez D, Sinha M, Lawrence SM, Fraley SI (2020). Improving Quantitative Power in Digital PCR through Digital High-Resolution Melting. J Clin Microbiol, 58(6).
    7. Koo J, Escajadillo T, Zhang L, Nizet V, Lawrence SM (2019). Erythrocyte-Coated Nanoparticles Block Cytotoxic Effects of Group B Streptococcus β-Hemolysin/Cytolysin. Front Pediatr, 7, 410.
    8. Reiss J, Sinha M, Gold J, Bykowski J, Lawrence SM (2019). Outcomes of Infants with Mild Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy Who Did Not Receive Therapeutic Hypothermia. Biomed Hub, 4(3), 1-9.
    9. Lawrence SM, Ruoss JL, Wynn JL (2017). IL-17 in neonatal health and disease. Am J Reprod Immunol, 79(5), e12800.
    10. Lawrence SM, Wynn JL (2017). Chorioamnionitis, IL-17A, and fetal origins of neurologic disease. Am J Reprod Immunol, 79(5), e12803.
    11. Sinha M, Jupe J, Mack H, Coleman TP, Lawrence SM, Fraley SI (2018). Emerging Technologies for Molecular Diagnosis of Sepsis. Clin Microbiol Rev, 31(2).
    12. Lawrence SM, Corriden R, Nizet V (2018). The Ontogeny of a Neutrophil: Mechanisms of Granulopoiesis and Homeostasis. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev, 82(1).
    13. Eckert J, Scott B, Lawrence SM, Ihnat M, Chaaban H (2017). FLLL32, a curcumin analog, ameliorates intestinal injury in necrotizing enterocolitis. J Inflamm Res, 10, 75-81.
    14. Lawrence SM, Corriden R, Nizet V (2017). Age-Appropriate Functions and Dysfunctions of the Neonatal Neutrophil. Front Pediatr, 5, 23.
    15. Velez DO, Mack H, Jupe J, Hawker S, Kulkarni N, Hedayatnia B, Zhang Y, Lawrence S, Fraley SI (2017). Massively parallel digital high resolution melt for rapid and absolutely quantitative sequence profiling. Sci Rep, 7, 42326.
    16. Makoni M, Eckert J, Anne Pereira H, Nizet V, Lawrence SM (2016). Alterations in neonatal neutrophil function attributable to increased immature forms. Early Hum Dev, 103, 1-7.
    17. Lawrence SM, Eckert J, Makoni M, Pereira HA (2015). Is the Use of Complete Blood Counts with Manual Differentials an Antiquated Method of Determining Neutrophil Composition in Newborns? Ann Clin Lab Sci, 45(4), 403-13.
    18. Lammers EM, Johnson PN, Ernst KD, Hagemann TM, Lawrence SM, Williams PK, Anderson MP, Miller JL (2013). Association of fentanyl with neurodevelopmental outcomes in very-low-birth-weight infants. Ann Pharmacother, 48(3), 335-42.
    19. Lawrence SM, Nandyal R, Hallford G, Anderson M, Hart N (2014). Changes in hematocrit following a blood transfusion does not influence the risk for necrotizing enterocolitis: A case-control study. J Neonatal Perinatal Med, 7(1), 21-7.
    20. Lawrence S, Tang Y, Frank MB, Dozmorov I, Jiang K, Chen Y, Cadwell C, Turner S, Centola M, Jarvis JN (2007). A dynamic model of gene expression in monocytes reveals differences in immediate/early response genes between adult and neonatal cells. J Inflamm (Lond), 4, 4.
    21. Major V, Lenaerts CH, Cowan JS, Lawrence SM, Mannel R (2002). Breastfeeding: a public health challenge. J Okla State Med Assoc, 95(11), 711-5.

    Case Report

    1. Kreshak AA, Lawrence SM, Ontiveros ST, Castellano T, VanHoesen KB (2022). Perinatal Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Treatment of a 2-Hour-Old Neonate with Hyperbaric Oxygen. AJP Rep, 12(1), e113-e116.