Shelley Williams, MD, returned in 2007 to the Division of Child Neurology at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh after two years at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, N.Y. Dr. Williams completed fellowships in child neurology and pediatric epilepsy, as well as her pediatrics residency, at UPMC Children's Hospital. Her medical degree is from Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C. In addition, she has specialty certifications in clinical neurophysiology and child neurology and epilepsy.  She directs the pediatric clinical neurophysiology fellow ship program and serves as director of the ketogenic diet and tuberous sclerosis specialty clinics. Her top areas of expertise are Early Infantile Epileptic Encephalopathy, Dihydrolipoamide Dehydrogenase Deficiency, PEPCK 1 Deficiency, and Autosomal Recessive Congenital Methemoglobinemia.

Robert Safier, MD, is a pediatric neurologist, clinical director of the Division of Child Neurology, and director of Medical Student Education at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. He is also an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Safier received his medical degree from Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1999. He completed his training in pediatrics at MetroHealth Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, OH, and his training in child neurology at UPMC Children’s Hospital. As both Clinical Neurosciences Child Neurology clerkship director and Child Neurology Elective course director, he is committed to teaching and mentoring medical students. On the graduate medical education level, Dr. Safier is involved in the clinical education of child neurology residents. As an active member on the Child Neurology Education Committee, he developed new Clinical Neurosciences Clerkship structures within the Division of Child Neurology. His mentorship directly influenced medical students to choose the field of child neurology at UPMC Children’s and nationally. Dr. Safier is recognized as an excellent general clinical child neurologist and regularly receives high praises from his patients and their families. His main research interest is studying the clinical and radiological presentation of hemiplegic migraine of childhood to better understand the pathophysiology. Since July 2005, Dr. Safier serves one day a week as the staff neurologist at Polk State Home, a campus for adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities. View Dr. Safier's full list of publications from PubMed. His top areas of expertise are Familial Hemiplegic Migraine, Migraine with Brainstem Aura, Papilledema, and Pseudotumor Cerebri Syndrome.

Katherine Cobb-Pitstick, MD, is a neurologist and joined the Division of Child Neurology at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in September 2021. She is the associate director for medical student education and is an assistant professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She received her medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and completed her residency at UPMC Children’s Hospital, followed by her fellowship at UPMC. Dr. Cobb-Pitstick’s clinical and research interests include headache medicine and accompanying behavioral comorbidities. She has been the lead author on three studies involving various aspects of migraine and she is an active member of the American Headache Society, the Pediatric Neurology Society, and the American Academy of Neurology. View the full list of Dr. Cobb-Pitstick’s publications on PubMed. Her top area of expertise is Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood.

Yoshimi Sogawa, MD, MS, is a board-certified pediatric neurologist who serves as director for Clinical Research in the Division of Child Neurology and director of the Early Onset Epileptic Encephalopathy Clinic atUPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. She is also an associate professor in the Division of Child Neurology in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Sogawa received her medical degree from Niigata University School of Medicine in Japan. She then completed her residency training in pediatrics and neurology at Schneider Children’s Hospital in Long Island, New York, and fellowship training in clinical neurophysiology (EEG) at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. She was awarded an NIH sponsored Neurological Sciences Academic Development Award (K12, NS048856) in 2009. During this period, she earned a master’s degree from the Clinical Research Training Program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Since joining UPMC Children’s Hospital in 2012, Dr. Sogawa has assumed clinical responsibility for the majority of patients with infantile spasms, a rare and intractable epilepsy in infancy. She is conducting a longitudinal study of their developmental outcomes. Dr. Sogawa designed the Early Onset Epileptic Encephalopathies Clinic to be patient and family-centered, flexible, and comprehensive. Common neurological tests such as EEG are typically scheduled on the day of a patient’s clinic visit to minimize trips to the hospital. Dr. Sogawa has been committed to research and scholarly activity in the field of pediatric epilepsy and child neurology and has published more than twenty peer-reviewed studies, invited reviews, and book chapters. On an international level, Dr. Sogawa has served on the Task Force on Epilepsy Syndromes under the commission on Classification and Terminology of the International League against Epilepsy (ILAE), the leading international organization for epilepsy care. Dr. Sogawa has been a collaborator for several NIH funded studies and site-primary investigator for medication trials on children with epilepsy. View Dr. Sogawa's full list of publications from PubMed. Dr. Sogawa is highly rated in 5 conditions, according to our data. Her top areas of expertise are Epilepsy, West Syndrome, Spasmus Nutans, and Epilepsy in Children.

Laura Kirkpatrick, MD, specializes in pediatric neurology and is board certified in Neurology with Special Qualification in Child Neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She practices at Child Neurology in Lawrenceville and UPMC Department of Neurology and is affiliated with UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital. Dr. Kirkpatrick completed her fellowship and residency at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and medical education at Georgetown University School of Medicine. Dr. Kirkpatrick is highly rated in 1 condition, according to our data. Her top areas of expertise are Epilepsy, Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizure, Absence Seizure, and Seizures.

Bilal Sitwat is a Pediatric Neurologist and a Neurologist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dr. Sitwat is highly rated in 13 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Myoclonic Epilepsy, Seizures, Epilepsy in Children, and West Syndrome. Dr. Sitwat is currently accepting new patients.

Robyn Filipink, MD, is director of the Movement Disorders Clinic, the Tourette Syndrome Clinic, and the Fragile X Clinic at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She is also a clinical associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Filipink is board certified in pediatrics and neurology with special qualifications in child neurology and neurodevelopmental disabilities. After completing medical school at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biological Sciences, she did her residency in neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) and started her faculty position at UPMC Children’s Hospital. She was awarded the UPMC Children’s Department of Pediatrics Junior Clinician Award during her first year on faculty. As director of the Movement Disorders Clinic and the Tourette Syndrome Clinic, Dr. Filipink evaluates, educates, and treats patients with a range of symptoms including tics, chorea, tremor, ataxia, dystonia, Parkinsonism, and related genetic neurodegenerative disorders. Her expertise in NDD expands her care to patients with autism spectrum disorder, neurodegenerative disorders, and genetic syndromes. As director of the Fragile X clinic, Dr. Filipink provides initial evaluations, referrals, and long term follow up care to children, adults, and their families who have Fragile X syndrome and Fragile X associated syndromes. This clinic participates in the Fragile X Clinical and Research Consortium. View Dr. Filipink's full list of publications from PubMed. Dr. Filipink is highly rated in 1 condition, according to our data. Her top areas of expertise are Down Syndrome, Chorea, Epilepsy, and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

William Welch, MD, is a neurologist and is certified in neurology and epilepsy with a special qualification in child neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He is director of Epilepsy Neurostimulation at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and is an assistant professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma and completed his residency and fellowship UPMC. Dr. Welch’s clinical and research interests include the treatment of epilepsy with vagus nerve stimulation, responsive neurostimulation, and deep brain stimulation. He has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and is a member of the Child Neurology Society, the American Epilepsy Society, and the American Academy of Neurology. View the full list of Dr. Welch’s publications on PubMed. His top areas of expertise are Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS), Seizures, Absence Seizure, Epilepsy, and Deep Brain Stimulation.

Inna Vaisleib, MD, is a board-certified pediatric neurologist at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and an associate professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Child Neurology in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Vaisleib obtained her medical degree from Kharkov State Medical University, Kharkov, Ukraine. She completed a pediatric residency at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, child neurology residency at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and clinical neurophysiology and childhood epilepsy fellowship at the University of Minnesota and Minnesota Epilepsy Group. She then joined the neurology staff at the University of Minnesota. In 2000, Dr. Vaisleib joined the faculty at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. She has particular interests in medically intractable epilepsy, VNS, pre-surgical evaluations, and headaches in children. Dr. Vaisleib serves as a primary investigator in several multicenter clinical trials investigating new anticonvulsant medications, has directed the neurophysiology course for new neurology residents. and leads the neurophysiology quality control effort. Dr. Vaisleib works closely with the Epilepsy Foundation of Western Pennsylvania in educating families and the public about epilepsy and devotes one week each summer to serving as the physician at their camp for children with epilepsy, Camp Frog. View Dr. Vaisleib's full list of publications from PubMed. Her top area of expertise is Autonomic Neuropathy.

Meghan Mack, MD, specializes in pediatric neurology. She practices at Child Neurology in Lawrenceville and Child Neurology in Bridgeville and is affiliated with UPMC Williamsport, UPMC Altoona, UPMC Jameson, UPMC Northwest, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, UPMC Hamot, and UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital. Dr. Mack completed her fellowship and residency at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and medical education at Penn State University College of Medicine.

Kate Kielty, MD, specializes in pediatric neurology. Dr. Kielty completed her fellowship and residency at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and medical degree at Eastern Virginia Medical School.

Research Interests.

Ariel Heller, MD, MPH, specializes in neurology. She is affiliated with UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital. Dr. Heller completed her fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and medical degree at St. George's University.

Nadia Dominguez-Molina is a Pediatric Neurologist and a Pediatrics provider in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Ruba Al-Ramadhani is a Pediatric Neurologist and a Pediatrics provider in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Jordan Vanzant is a Pediatric Neurologist and a Pediatrics provider in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dr. Vanzant is currently accepting new patients.