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Neurology and Neurosurgery

The Johns Hopkins Epilepsy Fellowship Program

The Johns Hopkins Epilepsy Center is a NAEC Level IV center located in the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Trainees are supervised and mentored by medical school faculty in a comprehensive training program focused on the diagnosis and management of epilepsy in both adults and children.  The high volume surgical program provides experience in stereo and subdural EEG, functional mapping, laser ablation, RNS and VNS.  Rotations include adult and pediatric epilepsy monitoring units, routine and continuous EEG, epilepsy clinic, and elective rotations in intraoperative monitoring and research.

On this page: Director | Faculty | Current Fellows | Alumni | Contact

Program Overview

Duration and Accreditation: The Johns Hopkins program offers two Epilepsy fellowship tracks:

  • A one-year ACGME accredited fellowship track that fulfills ABPN requirements for certification in epilepsy.
  • A two-year fellowship track that includes an ACGME accredited first year, and a second ACGME equivalent year for additional experience in epilepsy surgery, electives and research.

Program Features:

  • Clinical management of adult and pediatric inpatients and outpatients.
  • Interpretation of EEGs in inpatients and outpatients with and without epilepsy.
  • Emphasis on diagnostic and clinical management of adult and pediatric patients undergoing long-term inpatient video-EEG monitoring for epilepsy and related conditions, including surgical management of medically refractory epilepsy. Patients are monitored in the Johns Hopkins and Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Epilepsy Monitoring Units (EMUs), Neuro-Critical Care Unit (NCCU), and in other inpatient clinical units at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.
  • Additional opportunities include:
    • Participation in investigational drug trials.
    • Longitudinal follow-up of patients who have undergone neuromodulation therapies such as RNS.
    • Initiation and continuation of ketogenic diet therapies in the adult and pediatric population.

Eligibility: Physicians who anticipate completion of an accredited residency in neurology or child neurology are encouraged to apply 

How to apply: Please apply through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and include your CV, a personal statement, and three letters of recommendation, including one from your residency director.  Applications will be accepted annually through January 31.

Contact Information

For application information or questions, please contact the fellowship coordinator Joanne Barnett:

The Johns Hopkins Epilepsy Center
Attention: Joanne Barnett
600 North Wolfe Street,
Meyer 2-147
Baltimore, Maryland, 21287-7247
Phone: 410-955-7338, extension 4
Fax: 410-502-2507
Email: [email protected]

Program Director

Tanya McDonald, MD PhD

Fellowship Faculty

Current Fellows

First-Year Fellows

Saud Abdullah Alsahli

Medical School: King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University (2016)
Pediatrics: Texas Children's Hospital of Houston (2018-2020)
Pediatric Neurology: Children's Hospital of Houston (2020-2023)
Epilepsy Genetics:  Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (2023-2024)


Dr. Saud Abdullah Alsahli

Dawn Lammert

Medical School: SUNY Upstate (2019)
Pediatrics:  Johns Hopkins Hospital (2019-2021)
Pediatric Neurology: Johns Hopkins Hospital (2021-2024)
Dawn Lammert, MD, PhD

Anna Patnaik

Medical School: University of Maryland (2020)
Internal Medicine: Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center (2020-2021)
Neurology: Johns Hopkins Hospital (2021-2024)
Anna Patnaik

Shashwat Pokharel

Medical School: Kathmandu Medical College (2016)
Neurology: Wayne State University (2020-2024)
Dr. Shashwat Pokharel

Glenn Rivera

Medical School: Albany Medical College (2019)
Pediatrics: Johns Hopkins Hospital (2019-2021)
Pediatric Neurology: Johns Hopkins Hospital (2021-2024)
Glenn Rivera, MD

Second-Year Fellows

Jaeho Hwang

Medical School: Harvard Medical School (2019)
Internal Medicine: Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center (2019-2020)
Neurology: Johns Hopkins Hospital (2020-2023)
Jaeho Hwang

Wesley Budd

Medical School: Lake Erie COM (2019)
Neurology: Case Western Reserve University (2019-2023)
Photo of Dr. Wesley Budd

Fellowship Alumni

Sahithi Battini, M.D. | 2024
Current Position: Staff Neurologist, Kaiser Permanente, Santa Clara

Doris Deng, M.D. | 2024
Current Position: Faculty, University of California, Irvine

William Li, M.D. | 2024
Current Position: Faculty, Cedars-Sinai Medical Care Foundation

Lauren Morris, M.D. | 2024
Current Position: Staff Neurologist, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children

Rachel Penn, M.D. | 2024
Current Position: Staff Neurologist, Jersey Shore Uniersity Medical Center

Lindsay Schleifer Bhandari, M.D. | 2023

Current Position: IOM Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh

Vishal Pandya, M.D. | 2023
Current Position: Faculty, Medical College of Wisconsin

Sonali Sharma, M.D. | 2023
Current Position: Faculty, Medical University of South Carolina

Waleed Abood, M.D. | 2022
Current Position: Faculty, Wayne State University

Stephen Briggs, M.D. | 2022
Current Position: Faculty, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Siddharth Gupta, M.D. | 2022
Current Position: Staff Neurologist, The Kennedy Krieger Institute

Babitha Haridas, M.B.B.S. | 2022
Current Position: Faculty, The Johns Hopkins University

Jay Bronder, M.D. | 2021
Current Position: Staff Neurologist, The Neurology Center, Washington, DC

Naveed Chaudhry, M.D. | 2021
Current Position: Faculty, University of Colorado

Mohaned Osman, M.D. | 2021
Current Position: Staff Neurologist, Boystown National Research Hospital, Omaha, NE

Khalil Husari, M.D. | 2020
Current Position: Clinical Associate, The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Claudio Osorio, M.D. | 2020
Current Position: Group practice, Orlando, FL

Susan Fong, M.D., Ph.D. | 2019
Current Position: Faculty, University of Cincinnati

Jaivir Rathore, M.D. | 2019
Current Position: Private Practice, Lakeland, FL

Susan Ellor, M.D. | 2018
Current Position: Private Practice, Cary, North Carolina

Samata Singhi, M.D. | 2018
Current Position:

Dalila Lewis, M.D. | 2017
Current Position: Faculty, University of Wisconsin

Tanya McDonald, M.D., Ph.D. | 2017
Current Position: Faculty, The Johns Hopkins University

Christa Habela, M.D. | 2016
Current Position: Faculty, The Johns Hopkins University

Erik Sass, M.D. | 2016
Current Position: Private Practice, Carolinas Health Care System, Charlotte, NC

Mary Gregory, M.D. | 2015
Current Position: Private Practice, Prisma Health, Columbia, SC

Emily Johnson, M.D. | 2015
Current Position: Faculty, The Johns Hopkins University

Elizabeth Felton, M.D., Ph.D. | 2014
Current Position: Faculty, University of Wisconsin

Elakkat Dharmaraj Gireesh, M.D. | 2014
Current Position: Private Practice, Florida Epilepsy Center, Orlando, FL

Mohammedhamed Labbaf, M.D. | 2013
Current Position: Private Practice, NOVA Neurology Center, Manassas, VA

Angela Wabulya, M.B.Ch.B. | 2013
Current Position: Faculty, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Sarah Kelley, M.D. | 2012
Current Position: Faculty, The Johns Hopkins University

Taryn Fortune, M.D. | 2011
Current Position: Staff Neurologist, The Neurology Center, Wheaton, MD

Suma Muthugovindan | 2010
Current Position:

Tung Tran, M.D. | 2010
Current Position: Faculty, Duke University

Mackenzie Cervenka, M.D. | 2009
Current Position: Faculty, The Johns Hopkins University

Susan Shaw | 2008
Current Position: Faculty, University of Southern California

Joshua Ewen, M.D. | 2007
Current Position: Staff, The Kennedy Krieger Institute, Faculty, The Johns Hopkins University

Pegah Afra, M.D. | 2006
Current Position: Faculty, Weill Cornell Medicine

Adam Hartman, M.D. | 2006
Current Position: Faculty, The Johns Hopkins University

Mohamad Koubeissi | 2005
Current Position: Faculty, GW Medical Faculty Associates