June 2, 2023, Filed Under: NewsPavitt Appointed Associate Chief of Pediatric Neurology Sara Pavitt, MD, Chief of the Dell Children’s Pediatric Headache Center, was appointed Associate Chief of Pediatric Neurology on June 1, 2023. Pavitt joined the program two years ago and oversaw the expansion of the pediatric headache program, created our Pediatric Neuroscience Wellness Committee during the pandemic, and created an exceptional pediatric headache fellowship. Pavitt will be responsible for integrating our neurology practitioners with the Dell Children’s Medical Center outpatient clinic staff, overseeing the expanding inpatient coverage, facilitating clinical research, and developing our program’s promotional and outreach strategies to increase access to care for children in Central Texas. Congratulations, Dr. Pavitt!
June 1, 2023, Filed Under: NewsEdmond a Featured Guest on Mayo Clinic Ophthalmology Podcast Mayo Clinic Ophthalmology Podcast Jane Edmond, MD, pediatric neuro-ophthalmologist and professor of neurology and ophthalmology at Dell Med, was recently interviewed by the Mayo Clinic Ophthalmology Podcast on her career path, being one of the country’s only pediatric neuro-ophthalmologists, and founding Dell Med’s ophthalmology department. Dr. Edmond is a visiting professor at the Mayo Clinic Department of Ophthalmology and was recently named AAO president elect.
May 16, 2023, Filed Under: NewsDell Children’s Hosts Fourth Annual Pediatric Neuroscience Symposium The fourth annual Practical Pediatric Neuroscience Symposium, held on May 13, 2023, at Dell Children’s Medical Center, featured presentations by 10 Dell Medical School faculty members from the Pediatric Neurosciences Program. Topics ranged from neuro-ophthalmological disorders to spina bifida and neurogenetics. Each interactive presentation provided specific techniques and evidence-based recommendations for diagnosis and management, including the roles of interprofessional teams in improving quality of life and treatment outcomes. The symposium was created to enhance knowledge of pediatric neurological conditions to help general pediatric providers improve care for children with these conditions. CME was offered for both in-person and virtual attendees. All lectures are available to watch on YouTube. Stay tuned next year for announcements regarding our fifth annual symposium!
May 5, 2023, Filed Under: NewsChildren’s Tumor Foundation NF Clinic Network Renews Neurofibromatosis Clinic Affiliate Clinic Status The Dell Children’s Neurofibromatosis Clinic has once again received Affiliate Clinic Status approval as a member of the NF Clinic Network of the Children’s Tumor Foundation. The NF Clinic Network recognizes clinics that provide comprehensive medical care to individuals with NF, foster patient education, and encourage participation in clinical research trials and the NF registry. Our NF clinic is co-directed by pediatric neurologist Manikum Moodley, MD, former co-director of the Cleveland Clinic Neurofibromatosis Center, and pediatric neuro-oncologist Virginia Harrod, MD, PhD. Karla Robles Lopez, MD, PhD, from the Pediatric Neurosciences Program staff serves as the clinic coordinator. The Neurofibromatosis Clinic first received Affiliate Clinic Status in 2021, a major accomplishment for a new program. The clinic will continue hosting its annual NF Family Day each fall, a daylong event co-sponsored by the Dell Children’s Neurofibromatosis Center of Excellence, UT Health Austin Pediatric Neurosciences at Dell Children’s, and the Children’s Tumor Foundation.
April 25, 2023, Filed Under: NewsRettig Selected as Committee Member of Neuropsychology Organization Eman Rettig, PsyD, has been selected as a committee member of KnowNeuropsychology, whose mission is to provide equitable access to quality neuropsychology and neuroscience education globally. The organization is also committed to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in education and training. Congratulations, Dr. Rettig!
April 14, 2023, Filed Under: NewsNorth Campus Epilepsy Center Celebrates Grand Opening Dell Children’s Medical Center North hospital and medical office building(courtesy of Ascension Texas) On April 12, 2023, the Dell Children’s Medical Center North Campus in North Austin celebrated a community open house featuring Austin mayor Kirk Watson and leadership from Dell Children’s Medical Center. The campus’s medical office building houses the newest clinic of the Dell Children’s Comprehensive Pediatric Epilepsy Center, which provides neurology and neurosurgery consultations, neuropsychology evaluations, and EEG studies. Services will continue to expand throughout the year. Read about the open house in the Austin American-Statesman and CBS Austin.
March 6, 2023, Filed Under: carousel, NewsResident Places Third in Texas Neurological Society Poster Competition Khushboo Verma, MBBS, PGY-4, and E. Steve Roach, MD, at the TNS 2023 Winter Conference Congratulations to pediatric neurology resident Khushboo Verma, MBBS, whose poster entitled “Imaging and Psychometric Evidence to Support the Clinical Dementia Grading” received third place in the Texas Neurological Society’s winter conference resident poster competition. Verma’s research explores the neural and behavioral basis of clinical dementia rating scales and proposes a computational model of dementia that explains most dementia-related variance observed in Pittsburgh compound B (PIB) PET imaging. She was the only Dell Med resident to receive a prize.
February 14, 2023, Filed Under: NewsTourlas Receives Frontiers in Headache Research Scholarship Sara Pavitt, MD, Konstantinos Tourlas, MD, Zoë Allen, RN, and Chelsea White, MSN, APRN, CPNP-PC, at the Scottsdale Headache Symposium poster exhibit Congratulations to pediatric neurosciences headache fellow Konstantinos Tourlas, MD, who received the Frontiers in Headache Research Scholarship Award from the American Headache Society at their 2022 annual meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona. Tourlas, one of 11 award recipients, was recognized for a quality improvement project implementing depression screening in the Dell Children’s Pediatric Headache Center. Konstantinos Tourlas, MD, at the Frontiers in Headache Research Scholarship awards ceremony
February 13, 2023, Filed Under: carousel, NewsEdmond Named President-Elect of the American Academy of Ophthalmology Jane Edmond, MD, was recently named president-elect of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and will serve as AAO President in 2024. Edmond hopes to leverage her role as President to address the increasing staffing and physician shortages and to advocate for expanding access to ophthalmologic care locally and nationwide, in part by recruiting equity-driven residents to the field. Edmond has practiced pediatric ophthalmology and neuro-ophthalmology for 32 years. She is the director of the Mitchel and Shannon Wong Eye Institute at Dell Medical School, Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, and a past president of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. She has served in many leadership roles within the AAO, including Trustee-at-Large from 2012 to 2017. Congratulations, Dr. Edmond!
February 13, 2023, Filed Under: News3D Printing to Aid Neurosurgery Planning A 3D replica of a patient’s spine Through the generosity of the Jedel Family Foundation, the neurosciences program is implementing three-dimensional presurgical modeling using a Formlabs 3BL 3D printer with Materialise Mimics software. This equipment will allow us to create three-dimensional models from a patient’s imaging studies that can facilitate surgical planning and serve as a teaching tool for patients, family members, and learners. One patient who has benefited from 3D printing was a 17-year-old with Down syndrome who suddenly refused to swallow. A cervical CT confirmed a severe C1 dislocation with C1-2 instability and compression of the spinal cord. The 3D replica of the patient’s spine allowed for development of a surgical plan that avoided narrowing of the spinal canal, and the patient recovered completely after surgery.
