Neurology

Neurology

The Section of Pediatric Neurology, based at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, provides neurological care to the children of southern Alberta and neighboring Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

With over a dozen faculty child neurologists, an extensive team of trainees and allied health professionals comprising the Section, we provide excellence in clinical care.

Round the clock urgent care is provided through inpatient on-call service and outpatient urgent neurology clinics. Integrated collaborations across multiple pediatric specialties provide comprehensive, cross-disciplinary diagnosis and treatment. Alberta Children’s Hospital Pediatric Neurology has provided over 700 inpatient consults and approximately 4,000 outpatient clinic encounters annually.

The Neurology service provides the following clinics/programs:

A physician referral is required for all clinics and programs. Please contact your physician or family doctor.

Supported by the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI) for Child and Maternal Health, the Department of Pediatrics, the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI), our Section continues to experience significant academic growth. Major operating and program grants are held from agencies including CIHR, NIH/NINDS, AIHS, Brain Canada, HSFC, NeuroDevNet, CPIRF, and ACHRI. Our research spans all elements of Child Neurology including:

  • Epilepsy
    • The Alberta Children's Epilepsy Program offers multidisciplinary care to children and families affected by epilepsy. As part of our clinical care, we strive to offer new and modern treatment options to our patients and learn more about epilepsy every day. Our clinical research program offers patients to participate in clinical trials that will help us to develop new treatments and diagnostic tools for children with all forms of seizures.
  • Neuro-trauma
  • Neuro-critical care
  • Stroke
  • Headache
    • The Pediatric Headache Program offers multidisciplinary and multimodal care to children and adolescents with headache disorders. Through this program, we strive to provide excellent patient-focused specialized headache care. Our clinic is led by pediatric neurologist and headache specialist Dr. Serena Orr, and also includes a registered nurse with expertise in pain and headache management, as well as consultative services in pain-focused psychology and physical therapy. Patients and families in our clinic also have the option of participating in our clinical research program (www.pehrl.ca), the goal of which is to carry out high quality research in order to improve patient-centered outcomes and treatment options for children and adolescents with headache disorders.
  • Neuromuscular diseases
  • Demyelinating and other neuro-immune conditions -  Neuroinflammation more than demyelinating
  • Neonatal neurology and brain malformations
  • Neurotechnologies: Non-invasive brain stimulation, brain computer interface
  • Developmental and cognitive
  • Preclinical epilepsy basic science research
  • Other

Research

All section members are actively engaged in teaching through undergraduate, medical school, residency, graduate student, and post-doctoral fellowship levels. A rich educational environment now includes >10 academic rounds and conferences per week.

Fellowships:

  • Epilepsy (Dr. Jacobs-LeVan)
  • Neurocritical Care (Dr. Esser)
  • Stroke (Dr. Kirton)
  • Neurology-Psychiatry (Dr. Murias)

For more information please visit: For Researchers & Students | Cumming School of Medicine | University of Calgary (ucalgary.ca).

Pediatric Neurology Resident Education

The Pediatric Neurology Resident Training Program is dedicated to the education of residents in Neurology with expertise in pediatric neurological concerns.  Upon completion of training in Pediatric Neurology, a resident is expected to be an expert in the prevention, diagnosis, and management of patients with diseases of the nervous system, and to integrate all of the CanMEDS roles to provide the highest standards of competency, ethical behaviour, and patient-centered medical care.  The program fosters learning through an atmosphere of collegiality, mutual respect, and collaboration. We emphasize the pursuit of excellence in clinical and academic neurology and instill intellectual curiosity for the academic and community leaders of tomorrow. Our program aims to serve both the present and future requirements of our patients, communities, and discipline. 

Primary Faculty
Dr. JP Appendino 
Dr. Megan Crone
Dr. Colleen Curtis (Locum)
Dr. Mary Dunbar
Dr. Michael Esser (Section Chief) 
Dr. Laura Flores-Sarnat
Dr. Alice Ho
Dr. Julia Jacobs-Le Van
Dr. Adam Kirton
Dr. Jean K. Mah
Dr. Aleksandra Mineyko
Dr. Serena L. Orr
Dr. Eric Payne
Dr. Harvey Sarnat
Dr. Morris Scantlebury
Dr. Kristine Woodward

Affiliated Faculty
Dr. Kara Murias
Dr. Kim Smyth