Dr.Jegatheesan graduated from Madurai Medical College - College of Medicine, The Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University, India, in 1997, completed her pediatrics residency training at University of Nevada, School of Medicine, Las Vegas in 2002 and Neonatal Fellowship at University of California, San Francisco in 2005. She has been employed at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC), an institution committed to the medically underserved, since 2005.
Her main area of interest is outcomes and data-driven Quality Improvement. She established a comprehensive computerized database system in the SCVMC NICU that enables prospective data collection for Quality Improvement and research. She also actively participates in the Perinatal Quality Improvement Panel and chaired the QI infrastructure sub-committee for 2 years. She became a member of the Society for Pediatric Research in 2014 and has actively participated in Clinical Research. She is currently the study site Principal Investigator for a NIH funded multi-center study evaluating ondansetron (5HT3 antagonist) for prevention of neonatal abstinence syndrome in newborns born to mothers who had chronic opiate use during pregnancy.
Her main areas of clinical interest have been in optimizing care of extremely preterm infants and newborns exposed to substances in utero; and promoting preventive care by promoting successful breastfeeding in newborns, practicing delayed cord clamping at delivery and screening for critical congenital heart disease.