Pediatric Neurology
Neurologists at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center are highly trained experts who have changed the way the specialty is practiced worldwide. This group of specialists has been building an exemplary reputation for decades, which is why today’s team is regarded as being a leader in the field.
We work with patients and their families to educate them about their neurological disorder and provide them with ongoing care and support.
Our neurologists are devoting their careers to more manageable therapies to alleviate debilitating seizures in children. One procedure in particular that has garnered attention for our neurologists and their surgical counterparts in the Division of Neurosurgery is the hemispherectomy. This is a drastic surgery involving the removal of as much as half the brain to alleviate severe seizures. Johns Hopkins surgeon Walter Dandy pioneered the procedure in humans in 1923.
Even today, although Johns Hopkins Children’s Center neurosurgeons and neurologists plan and perform at least one hemispherectomy a month, the overwhelming success of our patients continues to fascinate experts in the field, as well as the public. Our neurologists consider this to be a drastic measure only for patients who resist all other therapies and medications.
Our Research
We have made great strides in the field with our research on the ketogenic diet. The high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet has been managed through the pediatric epilepsy team at Johns Hopkins since its beginnings in the 1920s. We are the premiere center in the world for clinical and research expertise on the ketogenic diet, having enrolled over 700 children over the past few decades on the ketogenic diet and 100 on the modified Atkins diet.
Conditions We Treat and Expertise
- ADHD
- Ataxia-telangiectasia
- Brachial plexus injuries
- Cerebrovascular disorders
- Craniosynostosis
- Cerebral palsy
- Epilepsy
- Headache
- Ketogenic diet
- Muscular dystrophy
- Movement disorders
- Neonatal neurology
- Neurofibromatosis
- Neuroimmunology
- Neuromuscular disorders
- Neuro-oncology
- Seizures
- Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)
- Stroke
- Spina bifida
Programs and Centers
Patient Stories
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Sofia's Story
Will gene-targeting therapies offer unprecedented outcomes for children born with the severest forms of spinal muscular atrophy?
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Lucy: Following Your Heart
Lucy was a perfectly healthy infant until her parents noticed that the shape of her head was changing - a protrusion was forming in the back of her skull.
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An Artful Diagnosis of Headache in Young Children
Pediatric neurologist Carl Stafstrom enlisted the expressive and artistic talents of young patients to assist in diagnosis of headaches.
Contact Us
For Patients/Appointments
Appointments: 410-955-4259
For patients and families needing to reach the on-call physician for emergencies after 5 p.m., paging operator: 410-955-6070
For Health Care Providers
Emergency consultative services (physician to physician) are available 24 hours a day by calling the Hopkins Access Line (HAL) at:
1-800-765-5447 or 410-955-9444 in Baltimore.
Locations and Directions
Our main clinics are located at the Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
We also have outreach clinics at multiple outpatient sites in Maryland.
We have a clinic every Thursday afternoon at Cedar Lane in Howard County and every Tuesday afternoon at Green Spring Station in Baltimore County.