Shellhaas elected to American Epilepsy Society board
Specialist in neonatal seizures will help advance epilepsy research, medical care
Shellhaas
Renée Shellhaas, MD, the David T. Blasingame Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been elected to the American Epilepsy Society board of directors. The society is dedicated to advancing research and education to prevent, treat and cure epilepsy.
A pediatric neurologist, Shellhaas has focused her research on seizures and sleep in infants and young children. She led a group that developed national guidelines for EEG monitoring of newborns at high risk of seizures. Her research on the use of antiseizure medications in newborns has improved treatment paradigms, and she helped establish the multicenter Neonatal Seizure Registry to advance the study of seizures in newborns. Her studies of normal and abnormal sleep patterns in newborns shed light on the impact of sleep cycling and sleep-disordered breathing on neurodevelopment.
Shellhaas is also the associate dean for faculty promotions and career development at the School of Medicine. In that position, she works with other members of the school’s leadership team to develop innovative institutional programming aimed at improving faculty career development, including revising the promotion and tenure criteria. She is also the administrative director of the school’s Executive Faculty Task Force on Climate and Culture, which aims to build a more inclusive and equitable medical school community.
