Dr. Baack completed her undergraduate training at South Dakota State University (SDSU) College of Pharmacy, Medical School at the University of South Dakota – Sanford School of Medicine and Pediatric Residency at Creighton – University of Nebraska Joint Pediatric Residency Program in Omaha. She practiced as a general pediatrician for 10 years in Pierre, SD before returning to a fellowship in Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine at the University of Iowa where she developed a passion for Pediatric Research.

She is currently a neonatologist in the Boekelheide Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Sanford Children’s Hospital, an Associate Professor and the Chair of Pediatrics at the University of South Dakota – Sanford School of Medicine and an Associate Scientist in the Environmental Influences on Health and Disease Group at Sanford Research. Her primary research objective is to understand the role of maternal and neonatal lipid abnormalities in the developmental origin of health and disease (DOHaD) and to develop preventative strategies to decrease the risk of both short and long-term disease in high-risk populations including infants born to obese or diabetic mothers. To meet this objective, she has both clinical and basic science research projects. Her clinical research in the NICU strives to improve the outcomes of premature infants through improved fatty acid provision. Basic science in the Baack lab focuses developmental consequences in a fetus exposed to maternal dyslipidemia or diabetic pregnancy with a goal of finding translational interventions that prevent cardiovascular disease in not only one, but subsequent generations.