Stephen Walker, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Samantha Weaver, MSN, CRNP
Assistant Professor
Katherine Thaggard, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Leon Dure, M.D.
Professor
William Bew White, Jr. Endowed Chair in Pediatric Neurology
Director
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Dr. Dure is Professor and Director of the Division of Pediatric Neurology and holds the William Bew White, Jr. Chair in Pediatric Neurology. Dr. Dure received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine with additional training at Babies Hospital / Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center / College of Physicians and Surgeons and the University of Michigan. Dr. Dure’s clinical research interests are movement disorders in childhood as well as Huntington’s Disease
Matthew Alexander, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Dr. Alexander earned his PhD in Genetics and Developmental Biology in the laboratory of Dr. Daniel Garry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. His graduate training focused on the characterization of forkhead transcription factors in skeletal muscle and cardiac progenitor cells. He moved to Boston in 2008 to join the laboratory of Dr. Louis Kunkel as a postdoctoral fellow where he focused on characterizing the role of non-coding RNAs in skeletal muscle diseases. He was promoted to an Instructor in Pediatrics and Genetics & Genomics in 2013. His laboratory in the Department of Pediatrics, division of Neurology, at Children’s of Alabama will be focused on exploring the roles of epigenetic modifiers of human neuromuscular diseases in addition to generating novel zebrafish models of muscular dystrophies for drug library screens.
>>>Click here for the Alexander Neuromuscular Disease Research Lab.
Amitha Ananth, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Education
Medical School: Heersink School of Medicine
Residency: UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital
Fellowship: Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children's Hospital (Child Neurology)
Stanford University (Medical Genetics Fellowship)
Interests
Clinical Interests
Neurometabolic disorders and neurodegenerative disorders.
Emily Gantz, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Education
Medical School
University of North Texas Health Science Center
Child Neurology Residency
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Monisha Goyal, M.D.
Professor
Director, Clinical Neurophysiology
Director, Pediatric Epilepsy Program
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Dr. Goyal is Director of Clinical Neurophysiology and the Pediatric Epilepsy Program, and Professor of Pediatric Neurology. Dr. Goyal received her medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine with additional training at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, the University of Pittsburgh and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Dr. Goyal’s research interests are pediatric epilepsy, and pediatric epilepsy surgery.
Katherine Hammond, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Dr. Hammond is Assistant Professor of Pediatric Neurology. Dr. Hammond received medical degree from University of Alabama School of Medicine, followed by pediatric and pediatric neurology training also at UAB. Dr. Hammond’s clinical interests are epilepsy, developmental delay and headaches.
Krisztina Harsanyi-Jilling, M.D.
Associate Professor
Program Director, Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Dr. Harsanyi-Jilling is Assistant Professor of Pediatric Neurology. Dr. Harsanyi-Jilling received her medical degree from the University of Pécs Medical School in Hungary, with additional training at the University of Illinois, Northwestern University Medical School and Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Harsanyi-Jilling’s research interest is sleep disorders.
Samuel Hopper, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Dr. Hopper earned his medical degree from Tulane School of Medicine. He completed his pediatric residency at UAB. He joins us from Jackson, Mississippi, where he worked with Children’s Medical Group, Batson Children’s Hospital and University of Mississippi Medical Center, and Mississippi Baptist Medical Center. His clinical and research interest is headaches in children. He sees headache patients at Children's South.
Pongkiat Kankirawatana, M.D.
Professor
Medical Director, Pediatric Epilepsy Surgical Program\
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Dr. Kankirawatana is Associate Professor of Pediatric Neurology and Medical Director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Center. Dr. Kankirawatana received his medical degree from Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand in 1984. He completed his internship and pediatric residency at Jersey City Medical Center, Child Neurology fellowship at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his Epilepsy fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Dr. Kankirawatana's clinical areas of interest are pediatric epilepsy and epilepsy surgery.
Kathryn Lalor, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Education
Medical School
University of South Alabama
Residency
Pediatric and Child Neurology- University of Vanderbilt
Michael Lopez, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Associate Scientist, UAB Center for Exercise Medicine
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Education
Medical School
University of Michigan Medical School
Doctoral Program
Structural & Computational Biology- Baylor College of Medicine
Child Neurology Residency
Baylor College of Medicine
Fellowship
Neuromuscular Medicine- Stanford University
Interests
Clinical
Pediatric Neuromuscular Medicine
Research
Basic science research in childhood-onset muscle disorders like Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Lydia Marcus, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Education:
Medical School
Heersink School of Medicine
Residency
Child Neurology-University of Alabama at Birmingham
Fellowship
Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis Fellowship-University of Alabama at Birmingham
Interests:
Neuroimmunology, acute flaccid myelitis, pediatric multiple sclerosis and autoimmune encephalitis.
Jan Mathisen, M.D.
Clinical Professor
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Dr. Mathisen is Clinical Professor of Pediatric Neurology. Dr. Mathisen received his medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine with additional training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Children's of Alabama, Washington University Medical Center and St. Louis Children's Hospital. Dr. Mathisen's clinical areas of interest are epilepsy, neonatal neurology and autism.
Tony McGrath, M.D.
Associate Professor
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Dr. McGrath is Associate Professor of Pediatric Neurology. Dr. McGrath received his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine with additional training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. McGrath’s research areas of interest are stroke in children and pediatric epilepsy.
Ismail Mohamed, M.D.
Professor
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Dr. Mohamed joins us from the IWK Health Center in Halifax, Canada. Dr. Mohamed graduated from Alexandria University in Egypt and completed pediatric neurology residency at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, clinical neurophysiology fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio and an epilepsy fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. His research interests are in functional brain imaging, in normal development, and reorganization after brain injury.
Jayne Ness, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Director, Center for Pediatric Onset Demyelinating Disease Clinic
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Dr. Ness is an Associate Professor of Pediatric Neurology and Neurobiology and Director of the Center for Pediatric Onset Demyelinating Disease Clinic. Dr. Ness received her medical degree from the University of Iowa College of Medicine with additional training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Ness's research areas of interest are pediatric demyelinating disorders, including multiple sclerosis, transverse myelitis, optic neuritis and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, as well as cell death pathways in neonatal hypoxia-ischemia and outcome following neonatal brain injury.
Sarah Novara, M.D., MSHQS
Assistant Professor
Program Director, Child Neurology Program
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Education
Medical School: Florida State University College of Medicine
Child Neurology Residency: University of Alabama-Birmingham
Interests
Research Interests
pediatric simulation education and quality improvement in the care of pediatric neurology patients.
Clinical Interests
pediatric epilepsy, headache, developmental delay, and pediatric ischemic stroke.
Alan Percy, M.D.
Professor
Sarah Katherine Bateh Endowed Professorship for Rett Syndrome
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Dr. Percy, Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, Neurobiology, Genetics, and Psychology, is the former head of Child Neurology at UAB. He has expertise in neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders, many of which are genetic, but for the past ten years has concentrated on rare diseases research, principally related to Rett syndrome and mutations in the related gene, MECP2. He is principal investigator of the Office of Rare Disease and NICHD-funded Natural History Study. Now entering third cycle of funding, related to Rett syndrome, MECP2 Duplication disorders, and other Rett-related disorders including individuals with mutations in CDKL5 and FOXG1.
Han Phan, M.D.
Associate Professor
Co-Director, UAB/Children's of Alabama MDA Care Center
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Education
Medical School
Morehouse School of Medicine
Internship
Tulane University
Residency
Child Neurology- University of Alabama at Birmingham
Fellowship
Sleep Medicine Fellowship-University of Alabama at Birmingham
Interests
Neuromuscular and sleep disorders
Salman Rashid, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Dr. Rashid is an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Neurology. Dr Rashid completed his pediatric residency at Nassau University Medical Center, NY. He completed his Fellowship in Pediatric Neurology at Children's Hospital of Michigan. Dr. Rashid earned his medical degree at Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan. His areas of interest are neonatal and critical care neurology.
Scott Turner, DNP
Assistant Professor
Division of Pediatric Neurology
Education
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Emory University
Master of Science in Nursing
Emory University
Doctor of Nursing Practice
University of Colorado
Interests
Pediatric headache, Tourette syndrome, population health, and quality improvement