Kids with Brain Disorders, Conditions and Injuries Benefit from Comprehensive, Cutting-edge Care at Children’s National

Many of these conditions come with debilitating and life-threatening symptoms.

Philanthropy helped our program become one of the best in the country. Donors support research and lifesaving treatments to help treat epilepsy, autism, brain tumors, concussions and other conditions. Together, let’s give children with neurological disorders the care they need and deserve.

Contact Andrew Miller to learn more.

 


Your Gift Supports Healthy Brains

Monitors in a surgical theater display the area of the brain on which the surgeons are operating.

Neurosurgery

Donors support our work to offer minimally invasive neurosurgery. Smaller incisions speed healing and shorten kids’ hospital stays. Philanthropy funded a virtual reality system called Surgical Theater. This 3-D technology allows surgeons to explore a patient’s condition in advance to map out the best surgical approach.

A teen patient undergoes testing; there are electrodes affixed to their head.

Epilepsy

Our comprehensive epilepsy program treats 95% of children in our region. We have one of the country’s largest expert teams. Donor gifts transform care through research and more precise surgical treatments. This gives kids with epilepsy freedom from seizures and a lifetime of opportunities.

A Children's National health professional assesses a young brain tumor patient.

Brain Tumors

Experts at our Brain Tumor Institute are world leaders. They evaluate 1 of every 10 pediatric brain tumor cases in the U.S. and deliver new, innovative therapies for kids. Donors supported one of America’s first cell therapy clinical trials to treat cancerous brain tumors.

An infant patient focuses on a toy presented to them by an adult.

Neuro Immunology

In autoimmune disorders, the body’s natural defense system attacks its own healthy cells. These disorders target the brain and nervous system and can affect a child’s ability to eat, walk, talk, think and move. Our Neuro-Immunology program is one of the nation’s few programs to provide care. Philanthropy supports research to develop better therapies and helps us recruit the next generation of pediatric neuro-immunologists.

Photo of White elementary school aged female smiling.

Izzy's Story

Izzy has neurofibromatosis, a condition that leads to unpredictable nerve tumor growth. She and her family traveled from California for a new therapy launched by Children’s National Hospital. Six years later, the therapy is still successful. "She's a really normal, average 10-year-old," says mom Alexis. "To have that normalcy is a great gift to us."

Photo of White elementary school aged female smiling.
Advances in our understanding of the brain and nervous system have led to a golden age of new opportunities to treat diseases in ways that were unimagined less than a decade ago. Philanthropy allows us to translate these discoveries into innovative therapies that will dramatically improve the lives of children and their families.

Roger Packer, M.D.

Senior Vice President, Center for Neuroscience and Behavioral Health

Learn more about Roger Packer, M.D.