Mark R. Mercurio, MD

Mark R. Mercurio, MD, MA, is a neonatologist who serves as Yale Medicine’s chief of neonatal and perinatal medicine. Based on his decades of experience, he often tells parents that “most newborns with critical illness ultimately do well. We can and do provide the best possible care and will work closely with you to keep you informed and involved.”

In addition to caring for premature and sick newborns, Dr. Mercurio is a prominent medical ethicist who directs Yale School of Medicine’s Program for Biomedical Ethics, as well as the Yale Pediatric Ethics Program at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital. He is a professor of pediatrics (neonatology) at Yale School of Medicine and researches medical ethics—especially as it relates to pediatrics.

Dr. Mercurio felt drawn to his specialty by the ability to dramatically impact lives so early in infancy and by the opportunity to be a mentor. One of his most memorable experiences was being summoned to perform a lifesaving procedure, only to find it already had been done perfectly when he arrived. “I asked the physician who performed the procedure so well who had taught him, and he replied that it had been me,” Dr. Mercurio says. “I had forgotten, but he certainly had not.”