NEW YORK — October 6, 2026 — A new research paper by author A T M Haidar Khan has been published on SSRN, examining how caregiver testimony can contribute to the development of testable research questions concerning neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, commonly known as HIE.

The paper, titled From Testimony to Testable Questions: What a Caregiver Memoir Can Contribute to Research on the Months after Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy, was posted on September 30, 2026.

It draws upon themes documented in Khan’s memoir, The Silence Between Two Heartbeats, which recounts a father’s experience following his daughter’s traumatic birth, HIE diagnosis, neonatal seizures, NICU hospitalization and transition home.

Rather than presenting the memoir as clinical evidence, the paper considers whether detailed caregiver observations can help reveal uncertainties that warrant formal investigation. It focuses particularly on the months after NICU discharge, when families may observe concerning neurological or behavioral events without having the equipment, clinical training or standardized methods needed to document them objectively.

The paper argues that testimony and scientific evidence serve different purposes. A memoir cannot establish medical causation or validate a clinical hypothesis, but it may preserve patterns, questions and experiences that researchers can subsequently examine through appropriately designed studies.

Among the broader issues raised are post-discharge neurological monitoring, communication between caregivers and clinicians, the documentation of suspected seizure activity, and the role of lived experience in identifying gaps that may be less visible in conventional medical records.

The publication forms part of Khan’s continuing effort to connect narrative testimony with responsible research inquiry while maintaining a clear boundary between personal experience and established medical evidence.

The paper is publicly available through SSRN and has been assigned the permanent digital object identifier 10.2139/ssrn.7562740.

It is currently an SSRN preprint and should not be represented as a peer-reviewed journal publication.