Neuroscientist-designed and patented units to be used by UPMC Harrisburg Level III NICU to support brain development and promote sleep of hospital’s youngest patients
NEW YORK, February 15, 2023 – RAPTbaby, the children’s division of RAPT Ventures, Inc. (RVI), today announced that it has partnered with the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation to donate twenty Smarter Sleep Sound Machines for use in private rooms at the UPMC Harrisburg NICU.
Co-founded by Dr. April Benasich, the country’s first endowed chair in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, RVI translates neuroscience into accessible and affordable products that support brain development and performance across all stages of life. Its patented RAPTbaby Smarter Sleep Sound Machine has a variety of soundtracks composed to promote the alpha and delta waves important to sleep while also incorporating structured acoustic cues that stimulate parts of the young brain that should be engaged in building language networks, even during sleep. Its innovative design is backed by the work of numerous neuroscientists demonstrating the benefits that high-quality auditory environments can bring to the early stages of brain development.
The RAPTbaby Smarter Sleep donation supports UPMC Pinnacle Foundation’s mission of coordinating charitable giving that helps to ensure the best care possible for patients in the Central Pennsylvania communities it serves, especially their most vulnerable members. At UPMC Harrisburg, the Smarter Sleep sound machines will help ensure that both preterm and term infants in the hospital’s NICU are exposed to the specific acoustic input their brains need and expect to support language acquisition.
“We designed the Smarter Sleep Sound Machine to give both parents and caregivers a new tool to support the cognitive growth of the children in their care,” said Dr. April Benasich. “We are delighted that, through this donation to the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation, our units will be placed in the UPMC-Harrisburg NICU where they can help produce the positive outcomes we all want for NICU infants.”
“The UPMC Pinnacle Foundation is honored to be able to accept this generous donation from RAPTbaby on behalf of the UPMC Harrisburg NICU,” said Jessica Ritchie, President of the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation. “We are excited to know that our littlest patients will be able to benefit from the developmental benefits these Smarter Sleep Sound Machines offer.”
ABOUT RAPTBABY
RAPTbaby™ is RVI’s children’s division. Informed by decades of clinically validated research, we create products to support the development of young brains, with a focus on auditory processing and language formation. Our intent is to take cutting-edge developmental neuroscience from the lab to the nursery, putting it into the hands of parents and caregivers who can use our products to deliver cognitive benefits to the children in their care. To learn more about RAPTbaby and Smarter Sleep, please visit RAPTbaby.com.
ABOUT RAPT VENTURES, INC.
RAPT Ventures, Inc. (“RVI”) was founded to bring the power of neuroscience into the home, giving individuals the ability to enhance brain performance for themselves and the people they love. Our trailblazing research and ingenuity leverage the power of the brain’s plasticity to develop, support and maintain a healthy brain from the outside in. Our products deliver highly tailored auditory experiences to create specific neuronal responses that support brain structure and the processes that determine cognitive performance across all stages of life. Their benefits range from creating a better physiological foundation for language processing in infants to strengthening deteriorating neural systems in older adults.
ABOUT UPMC PINNACLE FOUNDATION
The UPMC Pinnacle Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that coordinates charitable giving to support community benefit and education programs, the needs of seven hospitals, and resources that improve access to, and quality of, care throughout UPMC in Central Pa. With nearly 100 different funds that benefit the hospitals as well as the community, UPMC Pinnacle Foundation invests locally in the resources and people that continually make the life-changing medicine of UPMC in Central Pa. a reality. All money raised by the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation remains in central Pennsylvania to support programs and services at UPMC in Central Pa. For more information, visit upmcpinnaclefoundation.org.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Catrina Boncaldo, Account Executive
Matter Communications
[email protected]
Stephanie Benamors
UPMC Pinnacle Foundation
[email protected]