Congratulations to pediatric neuro-ophthalmologist Jane Edmond, MD, who received a lifetime achievement award from Houston Methodist Hospital and the Houston Ophthalmological Society. Edmond is director of the Mitchel and Shannon Wong Eye Institute at Dell Medical School, interim vice dean of professional practice, professor and chair in the Department of Ophthalmology, and 2023 president-elect of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
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Welcome, Dr. Willsey!
Help us give a warm welcome to Kylene Willsey, MD, an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology. Willsey joined our team in October from Green Tree Pediatrics in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she practiced as a general pediatrician. She will be working primarily with the Dell Children’s Traumatic Brain Injury/Concussion Clinic.
Willsey received her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and completed her pediatrics residency at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She has been involved in the community through various sports-related initiatives, including coaching, providing sports coverage for high school football games, and performing baseline concussion testing for high school football players. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness, and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine.
Welcome, Dr. Willsey!
Welcome, Dr. Irwin!
Join us in welcoming Samantha Irwin, MB BCh, MSc, a pediatric neurologist who specializes in headache disorders, including posttraumatic headaches. Irwin is as an associate professor of neurology and the director of the Pediatric Headache Fellowship program at Dell Medical School.
Irwin earned her master’s in neuropsychology at Maastricht University and her medical degree at the School of Medicine Trinity College Dublin. She completed a pediatric neurology residency at the University of Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, where she was chief resident, and a headache neurology fellowship at the University of California San Francisco. Before coming to Austin, Irwin was an assistant professor of neurology and the Pediatric Headache Fellowship director at UCSF.
Irwin’s research focuses on clinical trials evaluating potential new treatments for headache disorders in children and adolescents. In addition, she is investigating the role of structured exercise as part of a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to treating pediatric headache.
Irwin is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, Child Neurology Society, American Headache Society, Canadian Headache Society, International Headache Academy, and International Child Neurology Association. She serves on the editorial board of Annals of the Child Neurology Society.
Drs. Gettig and Austin Create Official THSCA Concussion Competencies Training Presentation
On July 17, the Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA) announced at its annual conference that Dell Children’s Medical Center will be its Official Medical Wellness Provider. As part of the new partnership’s educational initiatives, assistant neurology professors Kelly Gettig, APRN, DNP, and Cynthia Austin, PhD, ABPP, of the Dell Children’s traumatic brain injury/concussion clinic collaborated with Ascension Sports Performance to create the THSCA’s official Concussion Competencies training presentation, designed to fulfill the state’s concussion education requirement for high school coaches, teachers, and athletic trainers.
Dr. Gettig and Dr. Austin presented on active rehabilitation following concussion at the THSCA conference and were interviewed by Bally Sports on the topic. Dr. Gettig also participated in a press conference with Adam Bauman, vice president of Orthopedics, Sports & Rehabilitation Services of Ascension Texas, and Joe Martin, THSCA’s executive director.
Through the partnership, Dr. Gettig and Dr. Austin will advocate for return-to-play legislation that reflects best practice for concussion management.
“We believe our role as a specialty clinic is to improve outcomes for every adolescent athlete with concussion by ensuring they have access to active rehabilitation as soon as possible following injury,” said Dr. Gettig. “Our partnership with THSCA is a direct pipeline to achieve that goal for athletes throughout Texas.”
Read more about the Dell Children’s and THSCA partnership in the THSCA’s official announcement.
Pediatric Neurosciences Sponsors Sixth Annual Women in Neuroscience Internship
May Tun, Emanuela Ilboudo, Karen Ramos, and Rosario DeLeon, PhD
WiNterns Karen Ramos, Emanuela Ilboudo, and May Tun
Emanuela Ilboudo, Dave Clarke, MD, and May Tun
This summer, 25 interns completed the sixth annual Women in Neuroscience (WiN) Summer Intensive internship program, supported by UT Austin’s Department of Neuroscience in the College of Natural Sciences and the Department of Neurology at Dell Medical School.
WiN’s eight-week paid internship encourages high school seniors and college students from historically underrepresented backgrounds to pursue careers in neuroscience and neurology. WiNterns from Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, Huston- Tillotson University, and UT Austin’s College of Natural Sciences partner with faculty mentors, attend daily seminars to build professional development skills, gain clinical and lab experience, and present their research at the conclusion of the program. They also receive ongoing mentorship.
Pediatric neuroscience faculty mentors this year included Audrey Brumback, MD, PhD (autism), Dave Clarke, MD (pediatric epilepsy), Rosario DeLeon, PhD (pediatric neuropsychology), and Elizabeth Tyler-Kabara, MD, PhD (pediatric neurosurgery). E. Steve Roach, MD, taught a half-day course on biomedical writing.
“Being able to speak to numerous health care professionals gave me great insight into all the rewards and challenges of their careers,” said WiNtern Karen Ramos. “I gained so much knowledge from asking questions and seeing them treat patients. In addition, seeing men and women from different ethnic backgrounds excelling in their specialty is motivating. Now I know I can do this!”
For more information on WiN, visit www.neurowomen.org or follow the organization on X @helloNeuroWomen.
Karen Ramos, Emanuela Ilboudo, OR nurse Shannon Neely, RN, and surgical technician Tracy Losoya
Keith Participates in American Academy of Neurology Leadership Forum
Louisa Keith, MD, chief of the Pediatric Neurodevelopmental Program, was selected as one of the 31 American Academy of Neurology members to participate in the 2023 Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum (PALF). The annual forum trains neurologists to become advocacy leaders in their institutions and communities by building skills in action planning, media relations, and grassroots advocacy.
“PALF was an amazing weekend with a group of passionate neurologists committed to improving patient care across the life span,” said Keith. “The training sessions and opportunity to form relationships with supportive mentors and peers gave me tools to translate big-picture ideas into achievable, actionable steps.”
Welcome, Drs. Ortman and Ferrante!
Join us in welcoming two new colleagues to our program:
Chelsey Ortman, MD, joins our Comprehensive Pediatric Epilepsy Center as an assistant professor of neurology at Dell Medical School. Ortman earned her medical degree from Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, GA. After her pediatrics and child neurology training at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, she completed fellowships in pediatric epilepsy and advanced clinical neurophysiology at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. She is board certified in neurology with special qualification in child neurology and is a member of the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society, American Epilepsy Society, Child Neurology Society, and American Academy of Neurology.
Leah Ferrante, MD, joins the Pediatric Neurosciences Program as an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology. After receiving her medical degree from West Virginia University School of Medicine, she completed a pediatrics residency and a neurodevelopmental disabilities residency at Baylor College of Medicine. Most recently, she completed a fetal and neonatal neurology fellowship at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. She is certified in neurology with special qualification in child neurology and is board eligible for certification in neurodevelopmental disabilities. She is a member of the Texas Neurological Society, Newborn Brain Society, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American Academy of Neurology.
Roach Named to Distinguished Educators Academy
Congratulations to E. Steve Roach, MD, Chief of UT Health Austin Pediatric Neurosciences at Dell Children’s, for being selected as a member of Dell Medical School’s Sue Cox, M.D. Academy of Distinguished Educators. The academy was created to recognize Dell Medical School’s most outstanding educators and educational leaders, to support the medical school’s growing community of teachers, and to foster excellence at the leading edge of medical education.
Dr. Roach will be inducted at the annual Dell Med Educational Innovation, Research & Awards Symposium on October 2, 2023.
How Do Epilepsy Center Characteristics Affect Epilepsy Surgery Utilization?
Nearly a third of people with epilepsy continue having seizures despite adequate trials of multiple antiseizure medications. Many of these individuals with medically refractory epilepsy benefit from various palliative and potentially curative surgical procedures. Although the number of centers offering surgery for epilepsy has increased dramatically in the last couple of decades, surgical treatment remains underutilized.
Kristen Arredondo, MD, and colleagues analyzed data from the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC) to determine how epilepsy center characteristics affected access to different types of epilepsy surgery and surgery volumes. The dataset included information from 206 adult epilepsy center directors and 136 pediatric epilepsy center directors.
Arredondo and colleagues provide a wealth of useful information. Geographic location of the center, center accreditation level, institution type, demographics, and available resources influenced the access and the rates of potentially curative and palliative surgical interventions. The likelihood of undergoing potentially curative procedures (e.g., temporal lobectomy, extratemporal resection, hemispherectomy or hemispherotomy, and laser interstitial thermal therapy) was higher in centers with image-guided robotics and magnetoencephalography. Except for hemispherectomy and hemispherotomy, potentially curative procedures were more likely to occur in centers with a greater number of epilepsy specialists with at least two years of epilepsy fellowship training. Extratemporal resection, hemispherectomy, and hemispherotomy were all more likely to occur in pediatric centers than in adult centers, and hemispherectomy or hemispherotomy was only attempted in level 4 centers.
There are multiple reasons why surgical treatment of epilepsy is underutilized. Better understanding of the resources that make surgery for refractory epilepsy more feasible and the barriers that impede it may help us provide optimal care for more people.
Arredondo KH, Ahrens SM, Bagić AI, et al. on behalf of the NAEC Center Director Study Group. Association between characteristics of National Association of Epilepsy Centers and reported utilization of specific surgical techniques. Neurology 2023;100:e719-e727. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000201526
Hardy Named Medical Clerkship Director, Child Neurology
Duriel Hardy, MD, is taking on a new role as medical clerkship director for child neurology medical students. In this role, he will coordinate and schedule MS4s (both Dell Med students and outside rotators) for neurology rotation. Dr. Hardy will also provide an educational lecture during the one-month rotation on child neurology and will help schedule the MS2s’ clinical child neurology rotation. In the future, he is hoping to revamp the educational portion of this rotation to include a child neurology–specific curriculum.
An assistant professor in the Department of Neurology, Dr. Hardy is a pediatric neuroimmunologist and co-director of our Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis and Related Neuroimmune Disorders Clinic. He joined our program two years ago after training at Duke University School of Medicine, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Congratulations, Dr. Hardy!