Expert list · Last reviewed April 17, 2026
Best Pediatric Neurologists in Washington, DC
Top pediatric neurology specialists in the District of Columbia for headaches, seizures, neonatal brain injury, and complex childhood neurologic care.
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The best pediatric neurologists in the District of Columbia sit inside a small number of teaching hospitals, and knowing which clinician matches your child's problem can save months of referrals.
Washington, DC has a compact but deep bench of child neurology specialists, most of them anchored to Children's National, MedStar Georgetown, and MedStar Washington Hospital Center. The clinicians below are cited for different reasons: some run subspecialty programs like headache or fetal-neonatal neurology, others are known for rare case work, and several have published research that guides how pediatricians everywhere evaluate kids with seizures, migraines, or early brain injury. Use this list as a starting point, not a ranking.
Dr. Schreiber is a child neurologist affiliated with Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center in Washington, with additional ties to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Holy Cross Germantown Hospital. His clinic is a common destination for families whose pediatrician is not sure what is driving a child's seizures, developmental delay, or unusual movements. The multi-hospital footprint matters for families outside central DC, because it makes it easier to follow up near home after the initial tertiary workup.
Marc Disabella, D.O.
Program Director; Director Headache Program
Anderson Lucchetti Womens and Childrens Center
View specialist profileDr. Disabella directs the headache program at Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center and is one of the most visible pediatric headache specialists in the region. He treats chronic migraine, new daily persistent headache, and the cluster of school-age kids whose headaches are affecting attendance and grades. His two "Pediatric Headache" overviews 12 are still used as starting references by general pediatricians, and his work on new daily persistent headache 4 and migraine's effect on school performance 5 has shaped how clinicians counsel families. If your child's headaches are frequent, disabling, or not responding to over-the-counter treatment, a dedicated pediatric headache program is the right level of care.
Dr. Al-Khalili practices neurology at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. His published case work covers unusual brainstem and spinal cord problems, including a detailed case of hypertrophic olivary degeneration from a midline brainstem cavernous angioma 6 and biopsy-confirmed brain and spinal cord abscesses in a patient with neurosarcoidosis 9. Families tend to end up with him when imaging shows something atypical and the first-line diagnosis does not fit. That kind of pattern recognition is especially useful when a young patient's workup is not clean.
Dr. Andrews is a physician at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, with additional affiliations at Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center and MedStar Montgomery Medical Center. He sees a full range of neurology patients and is one of the more published clinicians practicing in the District, which usually reflects steady involvement in complex, multi-disciplinary case review. For children with layered diagnoses (for example, epilepsy plus a metabolic or genetic finding), the cross-hospital affiliations make coordination easier.
Dr. Strelzik is a child neurologist at Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center, with an academic affiliation at Johns Hopkins. He has a strong interest in training — he was senior author on a 2023 national needs assessment for a neurogenetics curriculum 11 and has written on the role of technology in neurology education 14. His clinical case work covers rare presentations, including new-onset chorea in a young child 13 and bilateral retinal and lateral geniculate infarction after influenza in an adolescent 12. That combination — teaching program plus rare-case clinical exposure — is a signal of a clinician who is continuously current.
Sarah Mulkey, M.D., PH.D.
Pediatric Neurologist
Anderson Lucchetti Womens and Childrens Center
View specialist profileDr. Mulkey is a pediatric neurologist at Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center with a fetal-neonatal focus. She cares for newborns with brain injury, neonatal seizures, and babies exposed to infections in utero. She was first author on a 2020 JAMA Pediatrics study showing that children exposed to Zika virus in pregnancy can have neurodevelopmental problems even without obvious congenital Zika syndrome 16, and she contributed to CDC interim guidance on how to evaluate these infants 15. Her work on plasma biomarkers in newborns with oxygen deprivation at birth 18 and on low-dose carbamazepine in neonatal epilepsy 19 is widely cited. If you are looking for a specialist to follow a newborn after NICU discharge, fetal-neonatal neurology is the right subspecialty to request.
What to look for in a pediatric neurology specialist
- Board certification in neurology with special qualification in child neurology
- Academic affiliation with a teaching hospital (Children's National, MedStar Georgetown, Johns Hopkins)
- Subspecialty focus that matches your child's condition — headache, epilepsy, fetal-neonatal, neurogenetics
- Wait time and whether they are accepting new patients
- Whether they accept your insurance and, if your child is on Medicaid, whether they participate
- Comfort working with your child's primary pediatrician so follow-up does not get lost
Questions to ask before your first appointment
- How many children with my child's condition do you treat each year?
- Will we see you directly, or a nurse practitioner in your program, for follow-ups?
- What testing do you expect at the first visit, and what should we ask our pediatrician to send ahead?
- If medication is part of the plan, how do you monitor for side effects in kids?
- Who covers after-hours calls and how do we reach you during a seizure or bad headache week?
- Do you participate in research, and would my child be eligible for any open studies?
The bottom line
Match the clinician to the problem. Headache specialty programs are the right level of care for chronic or disabling headaches, fetal-neonatal neurology is the right fit for newborns with brain injury or prenatal infections, and general child neurologists are the right first stop for new seizures or unexplained developmental concerns. If your pediatrician has already referred you and you are stuck on a waitlist, ask whether a different subspecialist in the same program can see your child sooner — in DC, most of these clinicians share a hospital and can hand off within the same clinic.
Sources
- Pediatric headache: overview. Current Opinion in Pediatrics, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1097/mop.0000000000000688
- Pediatric Headache: An Overview. Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cppeds.2017.01.002
- An Evolutionarily Conserved Cysteine Protease, Human Bleomycin Hydrolase, Binds to the Human Homologue of Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzyme 9. Molecular Pharmacology, 1998. https://doi.org/10.1124/mol.54.6.954
- New Daily Persistent Headache in a Pediatric Population. Journal of Child Neurology, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/08830738211004514
- Pediatric Migraine and Academics. Current Pain and Headache Reports, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-020-00869-5
- Unilateral Symptomatic Hypertrophic Olivary Degeneration Secondary to Midline Brainstem Cavernous Angioma: A Case Report and Review of the Literature. World Neurosurgery, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wneu.2017.10.061
- (427) Could depression be a causative factor in the development of CRPS types I? Journal of Pain, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2017.02.277
- (335) Using pharmacogenomics as an effective tool in minimizing drug related side effects in patients with Chronic regional pain syndrome: A feasibility study. Journal of Pain, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2017.02.228
- Identification of Brain and Spinal Cord Abscesses in a Patient with Recently Diagnosed Neurosarcoidosis (P6-1.002). Neurology, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.98.18_supplement.766
- Su1925 Characteristics of Gastric Polyps in African Americans and Hispanics. Gastroenterology, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0016-5085(13)61889-2
- Targeted Needs Assessment for a National Neurogenetics Curriculum. Pediatric Neurology, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2023.12.017
- Bilateral Retinal and Lateral Geniculate Nucleus Infarction in an Adolescent With Influenza. Pediatric Neurology, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2023.05.001
- New Onset Chorea in a Previously Healthy 7-Year-Old. The Journal of Pediatrics, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.04.053
- Let's Talk Tech: The Role of Technology in Neurology Education. Seminars in Neurology, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2795-8556
- Update: Interim Guidance for the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Management of Infants with Possible Congenital Zika Virus Infection — United States, October 2017. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2017. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6641a1
- Neurodevelopmental Abnormalities in Children With In Utero Zika Virus Exposure Without Congenital Zika Syndrome. JAMA Pediatrics, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.5204
- Autonomic nervous system development and its impact on neuropsychiatric outcome. Pediatric Research, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-018-0155-0
- Plasma Biomarkers of Brain Injury in Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy. The Journal of Pediatrics, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2017.10.060
- Rapid and safe response to low‐dose carbamazepine in neonatal epilepsy. Epilepsia, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.13596
Sources
- 1.
- 2.Pediatric Headache: An Overview — Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care, 2017. DOI
- 3.An Evolutionarily Conserved Cysteine Protease, Human Bleomycin Hydrolase, Binds to the Human Homologue of Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzyme 9 — Molecular Pharmacology, 1998. DOI
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.Unilateral Symptomatic Hypertrophic Olivary Degeneration Secondary to Midline Brainstem Cavernous Angioma: A Case Report and Review of the Literature — World Neurosurgery, 2017. DOI
- 7.(427) Could depression be a causative factor in the development of CRPS types I? — Journal of Pain, 2017. DOI
- 8.(335) Using pharmacogenomics as an effective tool in minimizing drug related side effects in patients with Chronic regional pain syndrome: A feasibility study — Journal of Pain, 2017. DOI
- 9.Identification of Brain and Spinal Cord Abscesses in a Patient with Recently Diagnosed Neurosarcoidosis (P6-1.002) — Neurology, 2022. DOI
- 10.Su1925 Characteristics of Gastric Polyps in African Americans and Hispanics — Gastroenterology, 2013. DOI
- 11.
- 12.Bilateral Retinal and Lateral Geniculate Nucleus Infarction in an Adolescent With Influenza — Pediatric Neurology, 2023. DOI
- 13.
- 14.
- 15.Update: Interim Guidance for the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Management of Infants with Possible Congenital Zika Virus Infection — United States, October 2017 — MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2017. DOI
- 16.Neurodevelopmental Abnormalities in Children With In Utero Zika Virus Exposure Without Congenital Zika Syndrome — JAMA Pediatrics, 2020. DOI
- 17.Autonomic nervous system development and its impact on neuropsychiatric outcome — Pediatric Research, 2018. DOI
- 18.Plasma Biomarkers of Brain Injury in Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy — The Journal of Pediatrics, 2018. DOI
- 19.
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