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The late Arnold Gold, MD, was a New York City child neurologist and a long-term member of the Child Neurology Society, but many people will be surprised to learn that he was by birth a Texan. Gold’s foundation continues to promote his passion for humanism in medical care, supporting Gold Humanism Honor Society chapters at many medical schools, the annual white coat ceremony for new medical students, and the Gold Humanism Award at the CNS’s annual meeting. The Gold Foundation’s website describes humanism in healthcare as a respectful and compassionate approach that is sensitive to the values and the cultural backgrounds of all people. Few people exemplify these qualities as well as the 2024 Gold Humanism Award winner, Dave F. Clarke, MD.

Clarke is professor of neurology and chief of the epilepsy program at Dell Children’s Medical Center. He has published dozens of articles and held important leadership positions. His extraordinary dedication to advancing care for epilepsy around the world was recognized by the American Epilepsy Society with its 2023 J. Kiffin Penry Award.

Fewer people know about Clarke’s parallel career as a humanitarian. Although he trained in Michigan and Toronto and has spent his academic career in the United States, he has never abandoned his native Caribbean islands. The stunningly beautiful region has few medical specialists, so general physicians and nurses usually care for children with neurological disease. Tests such as EEG and MRI are not always available, and many routine medications are not on the islands’ formulary.

For almost two decades, Clarke has returned to the islands two or three times per year for weeklong free clinics, during which he sees dozens of children with epilepsy and other conditions with local practitioners. He often convinces colleagues in neuropsychology, neurology, and nursing to volunteer as well. Between patients, he finds time for lectures and bedside teaching. After returning home, he is readily available to the island physicians who call for patient care advice or for help with a difficult EEG.

Clarke’s advocacy in the region resulted in five new epilepsy drugs being added to the government’s approved drug formulary. He arranged for the donation of several EEG machines to island clinics, provided instruction about basic EEG interpretation, and arranged for technician training. His efforts represent humanism on a large scale.

In honor of National Epilepsy Awareness Month, UT Health Austin featured a story on a Texas teen who credits pediatric epilepsy program chief Dave Clarke, MD, with her freedom from epilepsy. “Dr. Clarke has hope and faith that everyone can live a normal life, and that has inspired me to believe in my own possibilities,” said 19-year-old McKell Koncsol, who has been seizure-free since 2020. Read the incredible story and watch the accompanying video.

Our understanding of many of the neurocutaneous syndromes has increased substantially in the last few years as we honed our knowledge of the clinical manifestations and delved deeply into the genetics and molecular mechanisms of many of the disorders. Anyone seeking the latest information on these conditions need look no further than recent back-to-back issues of Seminars in Pediatric Neurology, guest edited by Dell Med child neurologists Leah Ferrante, MD, and Chelsey Ortman, MD.

The two issues of Seminars include reviews of well-known disorders such as tuberous sclerosis complex, neurofibromatosis, and Sturge-Weber syndrome as well as lesser-known conditions such as PHACE syndrome, incontinentia pigmenti, and encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis. Most covered disorders are reviewed separately, providing up-to-date information about the clinical features, pathophysiology, and treatment options.

Article example: Leah Ferrante and Chelsey Ortman. Genetic principles related to neurocutaneous disorders. Seminars in Pediatric Neurology, volume 51, October 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spen.2024.101150

We’re proud to announce that our child neurology residency program at Dell Med has ranked #25 of 79 child neurology residencies nationwide according to the 2024-25 Doximity Residency Navigator. Rankings are based on resident satisfaction, reputation, and objective data.

Doximity’s Residency Navigator is an online directory that helps medical students make informed residency decisions by providing transparency in the residency match process.

Pediatric epileptologists Kristina Julich, MD, and Daniel Freedman, DO, were selected by Dell Med and UT Austin’s IC² Institute to receive $150,000 for research that will advance the responsible development of AI to improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities. Their proposal was one of four funded projects selected from 39 proposals submitted by UT interdisciplinary research teams.

Julich and Freedman’s project, “Developing an AI-Based Diagnostic Tool for Epilepsy in Low-Resource Areas,” involves creating a seizure diagnostic tool that approximates the diagnostic algorithm of a trained epilepsy expert clinician. They plan to use this tool as part of the screening process for their existing epilepsy outreach project to improve access to epilepsy care in rural areas of Texas.

Read more about their “intelligent” seizure diagnostic questionnaire.

Audrey Brumback, MD, PhD, was recently awarded a $110,000 grant from the Albany Foundation, an Austin-based nonprofit organization, to fund a precision medicine program she is creating in collaboration with pediatric neurogenetics chief Kristina Julich, MD. The goal of the Gene-to-Treatment program is to rapidly develop personalized treatments for patients with autism and other severe neurodevelopmental disorders based on a patient’s genetic profile. 

Approximately 1 in 4 patients with a neurodevelopmental disorder (e.g., autism, epilepsy, and/or developmental delay) has a genetic cause that can be detected with a simple cheek swab. Brumback is partnering with basic scientists at UT Austin to assess each patient’s genetics and screen FDA-approved medications in order to determine whether they can be repurposed to treat the patient’s condition.

Welcome to Tao Song, PhD, a clinical associate professor of neurology and the technical director of the Dell Children’s Magnetoencephalography (MEG) Laboratory. Dr. Song oversees all technical and research activities in the MEG lab, thanks to his specialized expertise in MEG hardware and software and knowledge of both clinical and research applications.

Dr. Song earned his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and his BSc in optical engineering from Zhejiang University in China. Following his postdoctoral research in the Radiology Imaging Lab at the University of California, San Diego, he joined Elekta, Inc., where he led MEG customer support operations. During his extensive career in industry, he remained dedicated to advancing MEG applications in clinical and research settings, actively collaborating with academic institutions.

Before joining Dell Med, Dr. Song served as the director of operations for MEGIN in both the United States and China. His current research focuses on functional brain mapping and innovations in MEG technology. His work is widely published in leading neuroscience and biomedical engineering journals.