March 10, 2015
Ten dedicated physicians recently joined Texas Children’s neurology team, which means more patients will receive enhanced access to care for neurological disorders with significantly reduced wait times.
As one of the largest pediatric neurology services in the nation, more than 30,000 patient visits occur each year in the 13 specialty clinics at Texas Children’s Neuroscience Center. Patients are treated for a number of conditions including epilepsy, cerebral palsy, Rett syndrome and movement disorders.
To ensure the full continuum of neurological care for these patients, Texas Children’s Chief of Neurology Dr. Gary Clark has always made it a priority to encourage and recruit more physicians into the field of neurology.
“As the medical community approaches retirement, we’re facing a local and national shortage of pediatric neurologists to fill this critical gap in patient care,” Clark said. “The average age of a child neurologist is 58.”
Using a portion of the $3.1 million received through a Medicaid waiver program from the state of Texas, Clark recruited 10 new neurologists, bringing the total of pediatric neurologists to 56. While many of the new recruits see patients at the Clinical Care Center on the Main Campus, Dr. Shannon DiCarlo is assigned to the Sugar Land location and Dr. Edward Espinelli sees patients in The Woodlands.
Besides expanding Texas Children’s neurology residency program, the additional state funding will be used to develop new programs for the hospital, including the nerve critical care service and a neonatal neurology service to diagnose and treat neonates with neurologic disease early to improve their long term developmental outcomes. Other priorities include expanding the neonatal follow-up program and developing the neurologic follow-up program.
“We are pleased to have these neurologists join our team so we can continue to better serve our patients and their families across the Greater Houston area,” Clark said.
New Neurologists
Dr. Rohini Coorg:
Dr. Rohini Coorg is a neurologist within Texas Children’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Program and specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of children with seizures and epilepsy.
Coorg is board-certified in child neurology, clinical neurophysiology and epilepsy. She has a special clinical interest in genetic epilepsies, including Tuberous Sclerosis Complex, a rare genetic disease that causes children to develop benign tumors in their brain and other vital organs, increasing the risk of developing epilepsy and autism spectrum disorders.
Coorg obtained her undergraduate degree at Washington University in St. Louis and medical degree at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She completed a child neurology residency at University of California-Irvine and completed two fellowships in clinical neurophysiology and pediatric epilepsy at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Coorg is an assistant professor of pediatrics and neurology at Baylor College of Medicine. She also is a member of the Child Neurology Society and American Epilepsy Society.
Dr. Gloria Diaz-Medina:
Dr. Gloria Diaz-Medina received her medical degree from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine and completed her pediatric residency at the University of Puerto Rico Pediatric Hospital. She completed a fellowship in pediatric neurology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota and a clinical neurophysiology fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine.
Diaz-Medina’s clinical and research interests include epilepsy and general pediatric neurology disorders.
Diaz-Medina is an assistant professor of pediatric neurology at Baylor. She is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, Child Neurology Society, Mayo Clinic Alumni Association and the American Epilepsy Society.
Dr. Shannon DiCarlo:
Dr. Shannon DiCarlo is a neurologist at Texas Children’s Combined Spasticity Management Clinic where she treats children with spasticity (muscle stiffness) associated with central nervous system disorders including cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury and stroke. She also sees patients at Texas Children’s Sugar Land location.
DiCarlo obtained her undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Texas in Austin and earned her medical degree from the University of Texas Houston Medical School. She completed residency training in pediatrics and child neurology at Baylor College of Medicine.
DiCarlo, an assistant professor of Pediatrics-Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and Child Neurology Society.
Dr. Lisa Emrick:
Dr. Lisa Emrick received her medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine. She completed her pediatric residency at Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital in Baltimore and completed four years of training in neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) at Johns Hopkins and Kennedy Krieger Institute. Emrick moved to Houston to complete a two year genetics residency and a one year fellowship awarded by the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation to focus on patients with mitochondrial disorders.
Emrick’s clinic and research interests include optimizing the care of children with neurogenetic disorders with an emphasis on mitochondrial disorders. Emrick collaborates with experts at Texas Children’s Fetal Center providing consults on fetuses with possible central nervous system malformations.
Emrick is a co-investigator on multiple clinical trials involving the management of children with neurogenetic disorders including Angelman syndrome and mitochondrial disorders. She also is a co-investigator for the National Institutes of Health’s Undiagnosed Diseases Network and has published research in multiple peer-reviewed journals.
Emrick is an assistant professor of child neurology at Baylor. She is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, Child Neurology Society, Kennedy Krieger Fellows Association, American Medical College of Genetics and Genomics, American Academy of Pediatrics and the Mitochondrial and Medicine Society.
Dr. Edward Espinelli:
Born and raised in North Houston, Dr. Edward Espinelli provides neurological care to patients at Texas Children’s The Woodlands Campus where he treats a broad range of neurological conditions including headaches, seizures, autism, developmental delay, cerebral palsy, dysautonomia and concussion.
Espinelli obtained his medical degree at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and while he was there, he completed his residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in pediatric neurology.
Espineli is board certified in Neurology with special qualifications in child neurology. His philosophy of care centers on caring for his patients as if they were his own family.
Espinelli is an assistant professor in the department of Neurology and Developmental Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine. He is a member of the Child Neurology Society, American Academy of Neurology, Texas Neurological Society, Texas Medical Association and the Harris County Medical Society.
Dr. Simon Kayyal:
Dr. Simon Kayyal, an assistant professor of pediatrics and neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, recently joined Texas Children’s neurology team where he will co-lead the development of a neonatal neurology service.
Kayyal received his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston before completing his residency in pediatrics and child neurology at UT Southwestern Children’s Hospital of Dallas.
During his postdoctoral training, Kayyal observed many children and adolescent patients with irreversible brain injuries, which immediately sparked his interest in neonatal neurology. His philosophy of care centers on diagnosing neurologic conditions as early as possible when the brain is still developing to improve long-term outcomes. Kayyal is collaborating with neonatologists to develop Texas Children’s Neuro-NICU program and establish a protocol to determine where newborns will follow-up once they have been discharged from the Neuro-NICU.
In addition to this new role, Kayyal lectures medical students rotating through the neurology clerkship to help them prepare for the neurology shelf exams. He also provides specialized lectures to residents and fellows to prep them for the board exams and get better acquainted with the hospital and outpatient settings.
Dr. Meena Murti:
Dr. Meena Murti is a neurologist at Texas Children’s Sleep Center and Laboratory where she treats children with sleep disorders including hypersomnia, sleep apnea, insomnia, circadian rhythm disorders and restless leg syndrome.
Murti obtained her undergraduate degree in biochemistry and policy studies from Rice University and her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine. She completed her pediatrics residency at Baylor and completed a fellowship in sleep medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Murti is board certified in pediatrics and sleep medicine, and is a clinical assistant professor of sleep medicine at Baylor. She is also a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Anuranjita Nayak:
Dr. Anuranjita Nayak received her medical degree from V.S.S. Medical College in Odisha, India. She completed her pediatric residency in Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey and completed her child neurology residency at Saint Louis University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. She also obtained a fellowship in clinical neurophysiology from the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Nayak’s clinical and research interests include epilepsy, epilepsy surgery, neurocutaneous syndromes and pediatric strokes.
Nayak is an assistant professor of neurology and neurodevelopmental disabilities at Baylor College of Medicine. She is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, American Academy of Pediatrics and American Epilepsy Society.
Dr. Mered Parnes:
Dr. Mered Parnes is an attending neurologist at Texas Children’s Pediatric Movement Disorders Clinic where he treats patients with impairments of body movement and control.
Parnes earned his medical degree at Drexel University College of Medicine (formerly Medical College of Pennsylvania-Hahnemann School of Medicine) in Philadelphia. He completed his general pediatric residency at SUNY Downstate Hospital in Brooklyn before moving to Houston where he entered the Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Residency Program. Parnes became drawn to the field of movement disorders, and was invited to enter the Baylor Movement Disroders Fellowship Training Program. He is currently completing his fellowship while seeing patients in the Pediatric Movement Disorders Clinic.
Parnes is board certified in neurology with a special qualification in child neurology. His clinical and research interests include pediatric movement disorders such as Tourette syndrome and neurodevelopmental disabilities.
Parnes sits on the Tourette Syndrome Association of Texas Medical Advisory Board, and is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, the Child Neurology Society and the Movement Disorder Society.
Dr. Monika Ummat:
Dr. Monika Ummat is assistant professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and serves as faculty in the Neurophysiology Department and Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at Texas Children’s.
She specializes in treating children with seizures, epilepsy and other neurological disorders.
Ummat obtained her medical degree from Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College in Pune, India. She completed residencies in pediatrics and child neurology at Baylor before completing a child neurophysiology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.
Ummat is a member of American Academy of Neurology, Child Neurology Society, American Epilepsy Society and Clinical Neurophysiology Society.
