Neurology Research

The Department of Neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital has a long history of innovation and discovery dating back to landmark discoveries about the mechanisms of cerebral palsy and the harmful effects of lead paint on growing children. Our clinical research focus comes from high quality, high impact basic neurodevelopmental research being conducted in our laboratories. We link those basic discoveries to mechanisms of disease to develop targeted therapies that treat the basis of neurodevelopmental disorders, not just the symptoms. The scope of our research currently extends to the following areas:   

  • autism spectrum disorder
  • brain injury and regeneration
  • brain and other nervous system tumors
  • epilepsy
  • fetal and neonatal disorders
  • headache
  • multiple sclerosis and neuroinflammatory disorders
  • neuromuscular disease and spinal muscular atrophy
  • disorders of sleep
  • stroke and cerebrovascular disorders  
  • Other developmental disorders including Rett syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, neurofibromatosis

 

RESEARCHER FOCUS AREA
Irina Anselm, MD Mitochondrial Disorders and Neurometabolic Disorders
Todd E. Anthony, PhD  Genetic dissection of neural circuits that control stress-induced behavioral states
Elizabeth Barkoudah, MD  Cerebral Palsy
Nicole Baumer, MD Down syndrome
David Bellinger, PhD Neuroepidemiology  
Leslie Benson, MD  Multiple Sclerosis & NeuroImmunology
Chinfei Chen, MD, PhD Synaptic Plasticity
Michael Crickmore, PhD Neurobiology of motivational states
Basil Darras, M.D. Neuromuscular Disorders
Michael Do, PhD Regulation of Physiology and Behavior by Light
Elizabeth Engle, MD Congenital Eye Movement Disorders
Michela Fagiolini, PhD Experience-dependent Visual Plasticity, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, including Rett Syndrome
Mark Gorman, MD Multiple Sclerosis & NeuroImmunology
Zhigang He, PhD Axon Regeneration
Xi He, PhD Cell-cell communication, Early Nervous System Development, Wnt Family of Secreted Morphogens and Signaling, Cancer, Skeletal and Neurologic Diseases
Karameh Hawash-Kuemmerle M.D. Brain Injury
Takao Hensch, PhD Critical periods in brain development
Kerri LaRovere, MD Critical Care Neurology
April Levin, MD Autism
Alan Leviton, MD Epidemiology of Brain Damage in Preterm Newborns
Tobias Loddenkemper, MD Epilepsy Clinical Neurophysiology
Kiran Maski, MD Sleep Disorders
Maitreyi Mazumdar, MD Neuroepidemiology
Jeff Neil, MD  Neonatal Neurology
Heather Olson, MD  Epilepsy Genetics
Judith Owens, MD Sleep Disorders
Archana Patel, MD Global Health
Phillip Pearl, MD Metabolic Epilepsy
Jurriaan Peters, MD Epilepsy surgery, tuberous sclerosis, EEG, and neuroimaging
Anna Pinto, MD Sturge-Weber Syndrome

Annapurna Poduri, MD

Epilepsy Genetics
Scott Pomeroy, MD, PhD Molecular and Cellular Biology of Brain Tumors
Michael Rivkin, MD Cognitive Disorders and Brain Development
Caitlin Rollins, MD  Neurocardiology 
Paul Rosenberg, MD, PhD Physiology and pathology of glutamate transporters in the central nervous system; molecular mechanisms of brain injury; mechanisms of homeostatic sleep regulation
Alexander Rotenberg, MD, PhD Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Traumatic Brain
Mustafa Sahin, MD, PhD Axon Development and Neurologic Disease
Arnold Sansevere, MD Continuous EEG monitoring in the Pediatric and Neonatal ICU
Thomas Schwarz, PhD Neurotransmitter Secretion, Membrane Trafficking, Synapse Development, Axonal Transport, Parkinson's Disease
Janet Soul, MD Neonatal Neurology
Sarah Spence MD, PhD Autism
Judith A. J. Steen, PhD Neurodegenerative diseases, proteomics and bioinformatics
Beth Stevens, PhD Neuron-glia Signaling, Synapse Development, and Plasticity
Robert Tasker, MD Critical Care Neurology
Nicole J. Ullrich, MD, PhD Neurologic Effects of Neurofibromatosis, Systemic Cancer and Brain Tumor Treatment in Children
Hisashi Umemori, MD, PhD  Wiring the Functional Brain
Clifford Woolf MB, BCh, PhD Pain, Formation of Neural Circuits, Regeneration