Anna Penn, M.D., Ph.D., is a clinical neonatologist and developmental neuroscientist at Children's National Health System. She is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Fetal and Transitional Medicine, with additional appointments in the Division of Neonatology and the Center for Neuroscience Research. In addition, she is the director of translational research in the Center for Hospital Based Specialties. Dr. Penn conducts translational work aimed at understanding and ameliorating preterm brain injury. Specifically, she studies the role of placental function in fetal brain development and damage, with the goal of developing new therapeutic agents to protect the brain in sick newborns.