Sylvan Ryder, DNP, CPNP is the Director of Operations and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner for the Columbia University Neonatal Growth and Development (GraD) Clinic.
The GraD clinic cares for infants at increased risk for developmental delays, cerebral palsy and other developmental diagnoses due to premature birth or other medical conditions by providing multidisciplinary developmental assessments and ongoing care coordination to former NICU patients ages 0-3. The clinic serves a diverse population including patients from all five boroughs of New York City, upstate New York and the tri-state area.
Through her multi-faceted role as an administrator and practicing clinician, Dr. Ryder has grown the GraD clinic over the course of the last year. By improving the transition from inpatient to outpatient care and educating families about the importance of neurodevelopmental follow-up, Dr. Ryder has ensured that more infants who need ongoing neurodevelopmental monitoring are receiving care. The GraD clinic has many ongoing quality improvement projects including decreasing no show rates and improving clinic scheduling to ensure patients receive high quality care. Currently, the GraD clinic is working on initiatives focused on early detection and diagnosis of cerebral palsy through a grant from the Cerebral Palsy Foundation. Dr. Ryder’s goals for the GraD clinic include expanding the multidisciplinary team to include a social worker and speech language pathologist to better meet the needs of the patients and families.
Dr. Ryder received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Case Western Reserve University and Doctor of Nursing practice in pediatric primary care from the University of Kentucky. She is a certified lactation counselor through the Healthy Children Project, Inc.
