Neurology

The faculty of the Division of Child Neurology at CHLA consisting of Lan S. Chen, M.D., Douglas Hyder, M.D., Wendy Mitchell, M.D., S. Robert Snodgrass, M.D., Shanti Thirumalai, M.D., Linda Tseng-Ong, M.D., Rebecca A. Hanson, M.D., and Virdette Brumm, Ph.D., evaluates and treats all aspects of childhood neurological and neuromuscular problems. Wendy Mitchell, M.D., is responsible for our Child Neurology residency-training program. Linda Tseng-Ong, M.D. is responsible for nerve conduction and electromyographic interpretation and assists in our outpatient clinic.

One major thrust of the Division of Neurology is the medical and surgical control of Epilepsy. All members of the division evaluate and treat children with seizures. Lan S. Chen is responsible for clinical neurophysiology and shares responsibility for electroencephalography with S. Robert Snodgrass. Lan Chen, Robert Snodgrass, and Shanti Thirumalai are responsible for EEG and Video EEG reading. Wendy Mitchell is currently running three new drug trials; Lamictal for partial seizures in infants, Diastat for febrile seizures, Levetiracitam for partial seizures in children, and Zonisamide-Pediatric study. Ketogenic diet is useful in reducing seizures in many of our children. Meei-Ing Lin, RN, PNP spends much of her time working with these families. We continue to use a new treatment using vagal implants in conjunction with the Division of Neurosurgery for the control of seizures.

Virdette Brumm, PhD, served on the Expert Psychology Panel of the Department of Mental Health of the County of Los Angeles.

Douglas Hyder, MD is a member of the Neurology Student Advisory Committee, Keck School of Medicine. He is a member of the Ependymoma, Infant Brain Tumor and Neuroscience Committees of the Children’s Oncology Group.

Wendy Mitchell, MD is serving NIH study section NDS-C.

Our faculty is actively involved in the teaching of residents, medical students and CHLA House Staff. Didactic sessions are given at house staff conferences and at multiple institutions locally in southern California. Our Division has been prominent in National Child Neurology, Pediatric Epilepsy and Neuroscience meetings with multiple abstracts presented in the past year.

National and International Recognition

Wendy Mitchell, MD
NIH Study Section

Publications

Number of articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals 28
Number of book chapters published 1
Number of abstracts published 8

Other Highlights

Wendy Mitchell, MD participated in the Emergency Dept FPT, Sept 2001-Present.