Meet NANT’s Clinical Advisors

It takes a vast team of colleagues to support the valuable education, resources, and connection shared within this vibrant international community. Between the NANT Professional Collaborative (NPC), Clinical Advisors, Conference Committee, and Peer Reviewers, over 30 of those colleagues generously volunteer their time to support Members and advance the specialty of neonatal therapy.

We’d like you to meet and help us celebrate our incredible Clinical Advisors. During their 3-year term, some of their roles include but are not limited to utilizing their immense and relevant experience to provide input on clinical initiatives and offerings, replying efficiently and accurately to clinically focused email inquiries, assisting with on-site conference needs, and adding value and credible resources in our private Member Community on Facebook and other social platforms.

Jennie Jacob, MSPT, CNT, NTMTC, graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Master’s Degree in Physical Therapy in 2000. She has been a pediatric physical therapist since then and began her NICU specialization in 2007. She currently works in the NICU and developmental follow up clinic at Banner University Medical Center-Tucson, is clinical faculty for ArizonaLEND, and participates in NANT as both a Clinical Advisor and an Instructor and Guidance Call Mentor for the Ignite Program.

She is a Certified Neonatal Therapist, and was on the inaugural board of the NTCB. She is certified in Neonatal Touch and Massage, the NNNS-2, the TIMP, and BSID 3 and 4. She lectures on a variety of neonatal and pediatric topics through multiple platforms. Jennie loves educating parents and is especially passionate about optimizing development in the micro-preemie population, baby wearing, and all things related to head shapes and torticollis. She is a mom to two great kids and three rambunctious dogs, with a husband thrown into the mix.

Entering her 31st year as an SLP as Pediatric Inpatient SLP at Cook Children’s Hospital in Ft. Worth, Ginger Hejtmancik, MS, CCC-SLP, CNT, NTMTC, has an infectious passion for connecting moms and babies, while also supporting NICU staff through neuro-developmental education and professional encouragement. “What we do in the NICU,” she says, “matters for the rest of our babies’ lives.” Ginger and her husband Craig recently moved to Ft. Worth to be closer to her three sons and 3 grandbabies. Outside of work, Ginger enjoys antiquing with Craig and exploring her new hobby of quilting.

Jennifer Hofherr, MS, OTR/L, C/NDT, CNT, NTMTC started her career as an OT in 1988 at Phoenix Children’s Hospital before getting her NDT certification and then moving to Washington DC where she worked at the Hospital for Sick Children. In 1997, she moved to Chicago, married and started a family. During that time, Jennifer had the honor to become a NIDCAP trainer under the tutelage of Heidelise Als. After receiving a master’s in child development at the Erikson Institute, her family moved to Ohio in 2013 where she is the Neonatal Therapy Program Manager at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Jennifer has always had a passion for newborns and their parents and is constantly striving to demonstrate how neonatal therapy directly impacts both the short- and long-term health and development of families in the NICU. Jennifer loves supporting her team and all neonatal therapists who will carry this work forward into the future!

Jennie, Ginger, and Jennifer – thank you for all you do for your fellow neonatal therapists, NANT, and this specialty. Improving the lives of babies and families is a global group effort! We’re fortunate you’ve chosen to use your passion, deep knowledge, and decades of experience in this capacity.