Child Neurology Division
Heather Fullerton, MD, MAS - Division Chief



Welcome to the UCSF Division of Child Neurology, dedicated to improving the lives of children with neurological disorders since its founding by Dr. Bruce O. Berg in 1968. Nationally recognized as one of the fathers of child neurology, Dr. Berg continued to advance the new field over the course of his 31 year career at UCSF.  We now have more than 25 faculty members, with expertise and active research programs in neonatal neurology, stroke and cerebrovascular disease, neuro-oncology, neuromuscular disease, epilepsy, autism, neurogenetics, multiple sclerosis, and movement disorders. Child neurology is a core part of the Pediatric Brain Center at UCSF, established in 2012 to bring together all specialists involved in the care of children with nervous systems disorders, from neurological surgeons to neuropsychologists, and from neuro-critical care physicians to physiatrists. We bring a multidisciplinary approach to all of our core missions: clinical care, teaching, and education. In conjunction with the education division of Neurology, we offer a child neurology residency program as well as clinical fellowships in epilepsy, headache, vascular neurology (stroke), and a research fellowship in pediatric hemorrhagic stroke. Our division was a continuous recipient of the NIH-funded Neurological Sciences Academic Development Award (NSADA K12) since 1994, allowing us to launch the careers of more than 20 physician-scientists in child neurology. Our division chief, Dr. Heather Fullerton, now serves on the National Advisory Executive Committee for the Child Neurologist Career Development Program (CNCDP K12) that is replacing the NSADA to train the next generation of academic child neurologists.

Clinics and Services

The Division of Child Neurology is a key component of the Pediatric Brain Center (PBC)  at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. We offer integrated clinical care to children across a wide range of neurological disorders. Questions asked at the bedside move rapidly to our active research community, and answers are brought back to the clinical team, creating a tight translational loop. We offer rigorous clinical and research training, producing future leaders in the field of child neurology. Our clinical programs aim to improve the lives of children with neurological disorders today, while our research and training programs aim to improve the lives of affected children of tomorrow. 

Child at Benioff Children's Hospital

Research

The Division of Child Neurology performs clinical, translational, and basic science research to improve the lives of the children we care for.  To learn more, visit PBC Research and Clinical Trials and the web pages for some of our research programs, below.

Alexander Fay, MD, PhD - The Pediatric Advanced Neurotherapeutics (PANTher) Program helps translate basic science discoveries to clinical trials for the treatment of childhood neurological diseases.

Donna Ferriero, MD - The Neonatal Brain Disorders Laboratory uses both experimental models and clinical imaging studies to understand the pathobiology of hypoxic-ischemic injury in the developing nervous system.

Heather Fullerton, MD, MAS, and Christine Fox, MD, MAS – The Pediatric Stroke and Cerebrovascular Research Program leads international, multicenter clinical research studies aimed at preventing and treating stroke in childhood.

Hannah C. Glass, MDCM, MAS leads several multi-center clinical research studies – including the Neonatal Seizure Registry – that use advanced imaging and brain monitoring to understand outcomes following newborn brain injury.

Sabine Mueller, MD, PhDThe Pacific Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium (PNOC) conducts clinical trials of new therapies for children with brain tumors. Its goal is to improve outcomes by translating the latest findings in cancer biology into better treatments for these children.

Elliott Sherr, MD, PhD – The Brain Development Research Program investigates the genetic and biological mechanisms and clinical manifestations of Autism, Epilepsy, and disorders of brain development such as Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum and Aicardi Syndrome. 

Zena Vexler, PhD - The Vexler Laboratory aims to enhance long-term recovery from perinatal and childhood stroke by altering local brain microenvironment.

William A. Weiss, MD, PhD - The Weiss Laboratory is researching tumors of the nervous system such as glioma, neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma.

Spotlight: New ​​​Center of Excellence for Hemorrhagic Stroke Research

The American Heart Association and the Henrietta B. and Frederick H. Bugher Foundation have recently awarded a grant to researchers at UC San Francisco to create a Center of Excellence for Hemorrhagic Stroke Research - the first-ever Buhger Center dedicated to pediatric hemorrhagic stroke. 

Read the Q & A with Dr. Heather Fullerton, Center Director and Training Director.

Faculty in Child Neurology

Danilo Bernardo, Jr., MD
Neurologist and epilepsy specialist

Mauro Caffarelli, MD
Pediatric neurologist

Qi Wen Fan, MD, PhD 
Neuro-oncology research

Alexander Fay, MD, PhD 
Neuromuscular disease and neurogenetics

Donna Ferriero, MD, MS
Neonatal neurology

Audrey Foster-Barber, MD, PhD
Pediatric neurology, palliative care

Alice Rutatangwa Edwards, DO 
Pediatric neuro-immunology and multiple sclerosis

Christine Fox, MD, MAS 
Vascular neurology

Carla Francisco, MD
Multiple Sclerosis

Heather Fullerton, MD, MAS
Vascular neurology 

Dawn Gano, MD, MAS
Fetal and Neonatal Neurology

Amy Gelfand, MD, MAS
Headache neurology

Ernesto Gonzalez-Giraldo, MD
Neurologist and epilepsy specialist

Hannah Glass, MD, MAS
Pediatric neurology and neonatal neurology

Ana Grijalvo-Perez, MD
Pediatric neurologist and movement disorder neurology

Nancy K. Hills, PhD 
Epidemiology, pediatric stroke research

Xiangning Jiang, PhD
Neonatal and childhood ischemic brain injury research

Bethany Johnson-Kerner, MD, PhD
Pediatric neurologist

Virgina Lee, MD
Pediatric Neurologist

Adriana Morell, MD
Pediatric neurologist

Sabine Mueller, MD, PhD
Pediatric neuro-oncology

Kendall Nash, MD
Pediatric neurohospitalist

Adam Numis, MD
Neurologist and epilepsy specialist

Ann Oh, MD
Pediatric Neurologist

Bridget Ostrem, MD, PhD
Pediatric neurologist

Alyssa Reddy, MD
Pediatric neuro-oncology

Hannah Shapiro, MD
Pediatric neurology and headache specialist
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Elliott Sherr, MD, PhD
Pediatric neurology, neurogenetics

Nilika Singhal, MD
Neurologist and epilepsy specialist

Jonathan Strober, MD
Neuromuscular diseases

Joseph Sullivan, MD
Neurologist and epilepsy specialist

Rachel Vassar, MD
Pediatric Vascular Neurologist

Zena Vexler, PhD
Neonatal and childhood ischemic brain injury research

William Weiss, MD, PhD
Pediatric neurology and neuro-oncology research

Sharon Wietstock, MD, MSc
Pediatric neurohospitalist

Yvonne Wu, MD, MPH
Pediatric neurology and neonatal neurology