The CHOC Neuroscience Institute has brought together a dedicated team of professionals specially trained to handle pediatric and adolescent patients with neurological disorders. We combine extensive training and experience with true compassionate care, giving patients and their families peace of mind knowing they are in good, loving hands.

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Michael Muhonen, M.D., Pediatric Neurosurgeon, Medical Director, CHOC Neuroscience Institute
Michael Muhonen, M.D., is director of the Neurosurgery Division at Children’s Hospital of Orange County and medical director of The CHOC Neuroscience Institute. Prior to joining CHOC in 1995, Dr. Muhonen was an assistant professor of neurosurgery for three years at the University of Iowa Hospitals, where he also completed his residency. He received his medical training at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Dr. Muhonen's primary interests include spasticity, complicated hydrocephalus and congenital neurological anomalies. He has published more than 20 original manuscripts and book chapters, and has made over 100 national and international presentations on various pediatric neurosurgical topics, including seminal research on cerebral blood flow, hydrocephalus and cerebral palsy. Additionally, Dr. Muhonen served as primary investigator for the clinical trial of the Strata Valve, a medical device used to treat hydrocephalus. He also led the CHOC research effort on intrathecal baclofen treatment for spasticity and dystonia of cerebral origin.

In addition to his work at CHOC, Dr. Muhonen serves on the professional advisory boards of several device manufacturers, including Medtronic Neurosurgical, Cyberonics, and Codman. He has also initiated the formation of several patient advocacy groups, including "Capture the Moment," a program providing a child-doctor "day out" from the hospital at a local amusement park. Dr. Muhonen is married to pediatric cardiologist Linda Muhonen, M.D., who is a faculty member of the CHOC Pediatric Cardiology Division.

William Loudon, M.D., Ph.D., Pediatric Neurosurgeon
Dr. Loudon joined CHOC in July of 2000 as a pediatric neurosurgeon, with a desire to develop state-of-the art clinical treatments for patients with neurological issues. Dr. Loudon received his M.D. from the University of Texas at Houston, followed by a Ph.D. in tumor biology from M.D. Anderson Cancer Institute in Houston, Texas and a post-doctoral fellowship in gene therapy for brain tumors at the Massey Cancer Institute in Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Loudon completed his residency at the Medical College of Virginia and his pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

With his extensive research and clinical experience, Dr. Loudon leads the collaboration between the CHOC Neuroscience and Cancer Institutes and directing their state-of-the art neuro-oncology program. Dr. Loudon’s accomplishments at CHOC include implementing new surgical techniques, treatment modalities and developing the county’s only pediatric-focused complementary and alternative medicine program.

Devin K. Binder, M.D., Ph.D.
Devin K. Binder, M.D., Ph.D. is a Neurosurgeon, CHOC Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, and the Surgical Director of the UC Irvine Comprehensive Epilepsy Program.

Dr. Binder received his medical degree from Duke University and did his internship and residency at the University of California, San Francisco. He completed a specialized fellowship in epilepsy surgery at the University of Bonn in Germany as a William P. Van Wagenen Fellow.

Dr. Binder is affiliated with the Society for Neuroscience, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the AMA, the American Epilepsy Society, The American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the American Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. In 2007 he received the Research Associates Dean's Junior Physician/Scientist Award and a Faculty Career Development Award from UCI.  His clinical interests include adult and pediatric epilepsy surgery and deep brain stimulation surgery.

Richard B. Kim, M.D., M.S., Pediatric Neurosurgeon
Richard B. Kim, M.D., M.S., is an epilepsy surgeon who serves as co-director of Children’s Hospital of Orange County’s Epilepsy Center. Dr. Kim earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and master’s degree in neurophysiology from the University of California, Riverside, and his medical degree from the St. Louis University School of Medicine. He completed his surgical internship and a neurosurgery residency at New York University Medical Center. He did a fellowship in epilepsy surgery at the Yale University of Medicine. Dr. Kim is also the Surgical Director of The Epilepsy Center at Hoag Hospital.

Ira T. Lott, M.D., Division Chief of PSF Neurology
Dr. Lott is the Division Chief of PSF Neurology as well as Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology in the UCI School of Medicine.  He is the Director of CHOC-UCI Division of Child Neurology. He was Chairman of the UCI’s Department of Pediatrics from 1990-2000. Since 2000, he has also served at UCI as Associate Dean of Clinical Neuroscience. 

Dr. Lott graduated from Ohio State University College of Medicine and received his training in pediatrics, neurology and child neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He was clinical director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center for Mental Retardation at Harvard from 1974-1982, and has also served as a clinical research associate at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He is listed in Woodward and White’s “Best Doctors in America.”

His research interest is in the neurology of developmental disabilities. He is the director of the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Down Syndrome Society in New York. He received the national research award from the Down Syndrome Society in 2004 and the Christian Pueschel Memorial Research Award from the National Down Syndrome Congress in 2005. In addition, he received the 2005 Spotlight Award from the California State Senate for his work with the developmentally disabled.

Glenn Fowler, M.D., Pediatric Neurologist 
Dr. Glenn Fowler received his Medical Degree from LSU School of Medicine. He did his internship at SP Memorial in San Francisco and completed his residency at USC-LA County Hospital. The doctor also completed NIH Child Neurology fellowships at Northwestern University School of Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Fowler is affliated with the University of California, Irvine Division of Child Neurology. His honors include membership in Alpha Omega Alpha. He is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Neurology with Special Qualifications in Child Neurology and by the American Board of Pediatrics.

Anne Tournay, M.D., Pediatric Neurologist

Jill Trice, M.D., Pediatric Neurologist
Pediatric neurologist Jill Trice, M.D. specializes in the treatment and management of all neurological conditions, with special emphasis in adolescent neurology, seizures and learning disorders. Dr. Trice served both her fellowship and internship training at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri. She completed her residency at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. She received her medical training at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.

Naser Elbalalesy, M.D., Pediatric Neurologist
Dr. Elbalalesy, pediatric neurologist, treats the full spectrum of pediatric neurological conditions and disorders, with clinical interests in epileptology, seizures, anticonvulsant therapies, headaches, and ADHD. He is board certified in pediatrics. Dr. Elbalalesy completed his fellowship training in epilepsy and clinical neurophysiology at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. He completed his residency at Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, a teaching affiliate of Columbia University College of Surgeons and Physicians. He also completed a pediatric neurology Residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Dr. Elbalalesy attended medical school at Tanta University in Tanta, Egypt.

Habib Ismail, M.D., Pediatric Neurologist
Dr. Ismail is board certified in pediatrics and completed his training in general pediatrics at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan, a program affiliated with Michigan State University. Dr. Ismail finished his neurology training at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in addition to completing a child neurology fellow at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Sameh Morkous, M.D., Pediatric Neurologist
Dr. Morkous is board certified in pediatrics and board eligible in child neurology. Dr. Morkous completed a combined fellowship training in child and adult neurology at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). Dr. Morkous completed his pediatric residency training at Tod Children’s Hospital, North Eastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM) in Youngstown Ohio. He also completed a combined residency training in internal medicine, anesthesiology and psychiatry at the Ministry of Health Teaching Hospitals in Egypt. Dr. Morkous has special interest in neonatal neurology and epilepsy. He is fluent in Arabic and French and is available to see patients at Children’s Hospital of Orange County and CHOC at Mission.

Ying Peng, M.D., Ph.D., Pediatric Neurologist
Dr. Peng provides care for the full range of neurological conditions, with special interest in pediatric neuromuscular disease and electromyography/Nerve Conduction Studies (EMG/NCV) in children. She is board certified in child neurology. Dr. Peng completed medical school at the Shanghai Medical University in China and received her doctorate in neurogenetics and molecular biology at the University of Kansas in Kansas City, Missouri, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in mammalian neurodevelopment at Northwestern University in Chicago. She completed an internship in pediatrics at University of California, Irvine Medical Center, followed by a residency in child neurology at the same facility. Dr. Peng completed her fellowship training in clinical neurophysiology at UCI Medical Center.

Leigh Maria Ramos-Platt, MD
Leigh Maria Ramos-Platt, MD is board certified in Pediatrics and Neurology with special qualification in child neurology. Her fellowship training in general clinical neurophysiology was completed at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where she also completed residency training in Pediatric Neurology. Dr. Ramos-Platt completed her pediatric residency training at Loma Linda University. She is a graduate of the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine. Dr. Ramos-Platt has special interest in pediatric EEG, EMG, and intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring. She is available to see patients at Children's Hospital of Orange County.

Shelley Bose, M.D. Pediatric Neurologist
Pediatric Neurologist, Shelley Bose, M.D., treats the full spectrum of pediatric neurological conditions and disorders. She is also involved in clinical research in the use of telemedicine to diagnose dementia in individuals with Down Syndrome. She is board certified in pediatrics and board admissible in neurology. Dr. Bose completed her fellowship training in child neurology at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center, and her residency in pediatrics at Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is a member of the Royal College of Physicians United Kingdom, and graduated from R.G. Kar Medical College, University of Calcutta, India.

Ruth McCarty, M.S., L.Ac.
Ruth McCarty, M.S., L.Ac., is a co-founder, with Dr. William Loudon, of Orange County’s only hospital-based and pediatric-focused complementary and alternative medicine program. Motivated by the recognition that medicine must address not only physical but also emotional and spiritual needs, Ms. McCarty received her Masters Degree of Science at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM) in San Diego, California. She then went on to complete her internship at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine prior to undergoing a fellowship in pediatrics in China. She is currently on staff, with allied health care privileges at CHOC and CHOC at Mission and provides traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapies in conjunction with the staff physicians, to comfort critically ill patients while in the hospital, as well as treating an active outpatient population in her private practice located in the CHOC Pediatric Services Suite in Aliso Viejo.

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Barbara E. Swartz, M.D., Ph.D., Neurologist, Epileptologist
Dr. Swartz has a M.D., Ph.D. (Pharmacology) from University of California, Los Angeles. She completed a Neurology residency at The Neurological Institute of New York at Columbia University Medical Center followed by fellowships in neuropharmacology, epilepsy, and clinical neurophysiology Dr. Swartz is board certified in neurology and neurophysiology. She has done research in epilepsy pre-surgical evaluation and neuroimaging for more than 15 years. Other interests include epilepsy in adolescents, women and the elderly. She is the Medical Director of the Epilepsy Center at Hoag Hospital.

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Nursing Team

The CHOC Neuroscience Institute offers the only dedicated pediatric neuroscience unit in Orange County. Our neuroscience nursing staff are specialty trained to manage the inpatient and outpatient care of patients with neurologic disorders.

Neuroscience Clinical Coordinator:

• Coordinates the patient family education program and maintains current educational material on various neurological diseases and diagnoses
• Coordinates the care of every new patient, ensuring that individuals receive the full continuum of care that is seamless – especially in the transfer from the inpatient unit to outpatient services.
• Responsible for bridging nursing care between the inpatient and outpatient settings, ensuring that transition to the next level of care is smooth.

Bedside Nurses (all are Registered Nurses – RNs)

• Deliver daily care of the patient, working alongside nurses’ aides who have experience with neurologic patients.

Charge Nurse

• Oversees the day-to-day operation of neuroscience patients
• Serves as the family contact to answer nursing-related questions or concerns.