Child Neurology Division

The Division of Neurology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center evaluates and manages infants, children, children and young adults with disorders of the central nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord.

Since its founding in 1969, the Division of Neurology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center has become one of the nation’s premier centers for education, research and treatment of neurological disorders of children and adolescents, currently ranked #5 on US News and World Report rankings (Could link to https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/pediatric-rankings/neurology-and-neurosurgery). We annually have more than 30,000 encounters with patients and their families for conditions such as epilepsy, headache and migraine, cerebral palsy, neurometabolic diseases, brain tumors and disease related to the treatment of childhood cancers, neurobehavioral conditions, neurodevelopmental, movement disorders, neuromuscular disorders disorders, neurocutaneous diseases including tuberous sclerosis complex and neurofibromatosis, neonatal neurology, neurocritical care, neurogenetic disorders including Rett’s syndrome, traumatic brain injury and stoke and neurovascular diseases.  

Following is a link to the Pediatric Neurology faculty... https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/service/n/neurology/team

Academic Overview

In addition to our clinical work, we design, develop and perform neurological research at all levels to provide answer to improve the outcomes of children and adolescents with neurological diseases. Every day, our clinician-scientists work to find new and better ways to care for children with neurological problems. And our extensive education efforts are training the next generation of neurologists to advance the state-of-the art patient care and apply those advances to help children and their families.

Areas of Expertise

The Cincinnati Children’s Division of Neurology offers a wide range of specialized services for children with specific neurological conditions and their families. Experts from various specialties collaborate to develop a care plan for each child.

Each specialty program also has a clinical research component. Patients and families are invited to participate in our research, on a voluntary basis, to help advance knowledge about their children’s diseases.

• Comprehensive Epilepsy Program: This program provides therapies that help reduce the frequency of patient seizures, and our specialists work with patients and their families to help them better manage seizures that do occur. The program includes a New Onset Seizure Clinic to address the needs of children with new onset seizures and an Epilepsy Surgery Program for patients with intractable epilepsy.
• Headache Center: We offer the largest pediatric headache center in the United States. Our multidisciplinary team combines neurologist certified in Headache Medicine, pain psychologist and nurse practitioners dedicated to treat a wide range of headache pathologies.
• Comprehensive Neuromuscular Center: This clinic offers a multidisciplinary treatment approach for patients diagnosed with neuromuscular disorders with a focus on Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy and congenital myopathies.
• Movement Disorder Clinics/Tourette Syndrome Clinic: These clinics treat children with ataxias, chorea (including Sydenham’s chorea), drug-induced movement disorders, dystonias, paroxysmal dyskinesias, psychogenic movement disorders, tremor, Tourette syndrome and other tic disorders.
• Tuberous Sclerosis Program: Our clinic provides care for the unique needs of patients, children and adults, with suspected and diagnosed tuberous sclerosis complex.
• Neuro-Oncology Program: Our specialists work with cancer treatment experts to care for patients with cancers affecting the nervous system.
• Concussion Clinic: Patients 10 years of age and older who have suffered concussions may be referred to this clinic for injury analysis and treatment.
• Inflammatory Brain Disorders Clinic: This clinic cares for patients with multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating / inflammatory diseases.
• Ketogenic Diet Clinic: This clinic provides care for patients on ketogenic diets.
• Neonatal Follow-up Clinic: This clinic serves the various care needs of patients with pre-, peri- or neonatal neurological disorders.
• Neurometabolic Program: This clinic provides specialized care for patients with neurometabolic disorders, and advances the care and treatment of children with these disorders.
• Neuropsychological Evaluation: Our multidisciplinary team assesses the effect of diagnosed or suspected neurological diseases or developmental disorders on children’s cognition and behavior. We help referring physicians identify, diagnose and plan to treat neurological disorders.
• Sleep Clinic: We provide services to diagnose, assess and care for patients with sleep problems and neurological diseases.
• Stroke Follow-Up Clinic: We provide care for patients who have a history of stroke.

Research Activity

The Division of Pediatric Neurology at Cincinnati Children’s pursues a wide range of research topics. We are committed to advancing understanding of neurological disorders and the most effective methods to diagnose, manage and treat them. Along the way, our team of clinician-scientists is applying what we learn to give your patients the most advanced, up-to-date care available.

Neuroimaging Studies
Our team has a long-standing interest in fMRI studies of language localization in both healthy children and children with neurological and developmental conditions. This research is partially contained within the Pediatric Neuroimaging Research Consortium, directed by Jennifer Vannest, PhD. Some of the research includes Mark Schapiro, MD, is using fMRI to study language activation patterns in patients with Down syndrome, Anna Byars, PhD, studies language activation in patients who have suffered a stroke, and Jeffery Tenney, MD, PhD uses MEG and neuroimaging for absence epilepsy localization.

Tuberous Sclerosis Program
This multispecialty program follows hundreds of patients with tuberous sclerosis and related disorders. Our team consists of specialists from neurology, nephrology, pulmonary medicine, human genetics, cardiology, psychiatry and other divisions at Cincinnati Children’s. We offer a range of cutting-edge neurosurgical interventions to address our patients’ specific needs.

The Headache Center
Our research at the Headache Center focuses on clinical trials and outcome studies. From our blood genomic study of pediatric migraine to our team members’ international educational work, we are advancing understanding of pediatric headache. We recently led and completed the CHAMP study, a national study on comparative effectiveness study of amitriptyline, topiramate and placebo in childhood and adolescent migraine that was published in the NEJM.