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Michael John Balsan, MD

  • Associate Professor of Pediatrics
  • Director, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Magee-Womens, UPMC Hamot
  • Chairman, Department of Pediatrics, Magee Womens, UPMC Hamot
  • Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine

Balsan is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He completed his undergraduate education at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and his medical school training at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He completed his pediatric residency, pediatric chief residency and neonatal-perinatal fellowship experiences at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh. Balsan has served as an attending physician at Magee and as the medical director of the NICUs (Neonatal Intensive Care Units) at Tod Children's Hospital in Youngstown, Ohio and UPMC Lee Regional Hospital, now Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, in Johnstown, PA. He currently serves as director of neonatology and Chairman of Pediatrics at Magee-Womens, UPMC Hamot in Erie, PA. Balsan is extensively engaged in nursing and physician assistant training, with a particular interest in neonatal resuscitation. His research interests have included neonatal pulmonology and auditory development/hearing protection in the NICU.

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships

  • Candidate Fellow, American Academy of Pediatrics, 1986-1989 
  • Fellow, American Academy of Pediatrics, 1990-Present 
  • American Thoracic Society, 1990-1998 
  • Pittsburgh Pediatric Society, 1990-1995 
  • Board Member, Pittsburgh Pediatric Society, 1993-1995 
  • Secretary-Treasurer, Program Committee Chairman, Pittsburgh Pediatric Society, 1994-1995 
  • Advisory Board Member, Parents Helping Parents of Intensive Care Newborns, 1994-2001 
  • Member, Ohio State Medical Association, 1996-1998 
  • Member, Mahoning County Medical Society, 1996-1998 
  • Board Member, Kelly Anne Dolan Memorial Fund, 1999-2001 
  • Board Member, Beginnings, Inc. Early Intervention Services, 2000-2005 
  • Board Member, March of Dimes, Erie, Pennsylvania, 2005-2017 
  • Advisory Committee Member, Pennsylvania Premature Infant Health Network, 2012-2014 
  • Executive Committee Member, Pennsylvania Premature Infant Health Network, 2014-2018 
  • Advisory Committee Member, Maternal Child Health Committee, Pennsylvania March of Dimes, 2014-Present 
  • Pennsylvania Perinatal Quality Collaborative Taskforce, 2018-Present 

Education & Training

  • BS, Medical Microbiology, University of Wisconsin, 1976
  • MD, Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, 1983
  • Residency, Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 1986
  • Chief Residency, Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 1987
  • Fellowship, Neonatology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 1989

Selected Publications

Balsan MJ, Cronin CMG, Shaw MD, Milley JR: Blood flow distribution and brain metabolism during Tolazoline-induced hypotension in newborn dogs. Pediatr Res 1990; 28:111-115.

Balsan MJ, Jones JG, Watchko JF, Guthrie RD: Measurements of pulmonary mechanics prior to the elective extubation of neonates. Pediatr Pulmonol 1990; 9:238-243.

Balsan MJ, Jones JG, Guthrie RD: Effects of a clinically detectable PDA on pulmonary mechanics measures in VLBW infants with RDS. Pediatr Pulmonol 1991; 11:161-165.

Herget-Delpapa E, Edelstone DI, Milley JR, Balsan MJ: Effects of chronic maternal anemia on systemic and uteroplacental oxygenation in near-term pregnant sheep. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1992; 166:(3) 1007-1012.

Laneri GG, Mitre B, Balsan MJ: Ventilatory Management Casebook: Lung perforation and encirclement of the great vessels by a malpositioned chest tube. J Perinatol; 1994 14:150-153.

Watchko JF, Balsan MJ: Ventilatory pump failure in premature newborns. Pediatr Pulmonol; 1994 17:231- 233.

Laifer SA, Ehrlich GD, Huff DS, Balsan MJ, Scantlebury VP: Congenital cytomegalovirus infection in offspring of liver transplant recipients. Clin Infect Dis; 1995 20:52-55.

Brozanski BS, Jones JG, Balsan MJ, Gilmour CH, Israel BA, Vazquez RL, Newman B, Mimouni FB, Guthrie RD. Pulse dexamethasone decreases the incidence and severity of chronic lung disease in the very low birth weight infant. J Pediatr; 1995 126:769-776.

Gilmour CH, Sentipal-Walerius JM, Jones JG, Doyle JM, Brozanski BS, Balsan MJ, Mimouni FM: Pulse dexamethasone does not impair growth and body composition of very low birth weight infants. J Am Coll Nutr 1995; 14:455-462.

Hudak ML, Farrell EE, Rosenberg AA, Jung AL, Auten RL, Horgan MJ, Buckwald S, Belcastro MR, Donohue PK, Carrion V, Maniscalco WW, Asselin JM, Balsan MJ, Torres BA, Miller RR, Jansen RD, Graeber JE, Laskay KM, Egan EA, Brody A, Martin DJ: Infrasurf V. Exosurf for the treatment of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome: A multicenter randomized masked comparison trial. J Pediatr 1996; 128:396-406.

Full Publication List via NIH PubMed »

Research Grants

Principal Investigator, Magee-Womens Hospital Research Fund, 01/1989-12/1989, $21,171

Principal Investigator, The Alliance for Infants Project of the Office of Child Development of the University of Pittsburgh Foundation,  01/1989-12/1989, $4,750

Principal Investigator, Magee-Womens Health Foundation, 1990-1994, $38,710

Principal Investigator, Research Advisory Committee, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 1990-1992, $9,909/year for two years

Principal Investigator, Giovanni Laneri. Co-Investigator, Magee-Womens Hospital Research Fund, 01/1991-12/1991, $9,825

Co-Investigator, General Clinical Research Center, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 1990-1991, $24,924

Principal Investigator, Ony Pharmaceutical Inc., 1992-1993, $50,000

Falculty Sponsor, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine Summer Research Fellowship Program, 06/1996-08/1996, $1,440

Principal Investigator, Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc. 1996-1997, $63,096

Faculty Sponsor, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine Summer Research Fellowship Program, 06/1997-08/1997, $1,440