Welcome to Our Section, We Are Glad You’re Here
On behalf of the entire section, I would like to welcome you to the Section of Pediatric Neurology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children’s. The UAMS Section of Pediatric Neurology was started by Dr. John H. Bornhofen in 1963 with a simple mission to provide neurological care to the children of Arkansas. Since that time, our section has grown to a diverse group of dedicated individuals who work to carry on his vision. I have the honor of working with 14 child neurologists, three neuroscientists and two APRNs as well as multiple specialty nurses and technologists who provide excellent neurological care for patients across multiple sites including Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas Children’s Northwest in Springdale and the ACH Jonesboro Clinic.
Our mission is to provide exceptional, family-centered care driven by world-class integrity and creativity in clinical, research and educational endeavors.
Our clinical care reaches to all areas of our state through our integrated statewide system and our dedication to telemedicine. We treat patients with a wide variety of neurological disorders including epilepsy, headaches, neuromuscular disease, movement disorders, spasticity, neurodevelopmental disorders and much more. We are a Level IV National Association of Epilepsy Centers epilepsy program, providing care for epilepsy patients including pharmacotherapy, dietary therapy, neuromodulation and epilepsy surgery. We also run a comprehensive neuromuscular program with multiple Centers of Excellence including Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy Certified Duchenne Care Center and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and Hereditary Neuropathy Center of Excellence. Our Spinal Muscular Atrophy Clinic is part of the Cure SMA Care Center Network and our providers were instrumental in adding spinal muscular atrophy to the Arkansas newborn screening. We have numerous other specialty clinics, often run as multidisciplinary clinics, providing comprehensive and organized care for children with various neurological disorders.
Our educational commitment extends to medical students, residents, fellows and faculty. We have an ACGME accredited child neurology residency program dedicated to training skilled and compassionate children’s neurologists and to foster resident’s interest in not only teaching but in the care of vulnerable patient populations. Through this mission, one of our aims is to encourage graduates to practice in underserved settings upon complication of training. We continue to excel in this aim and our proud of graduates as they pursue fellowships as well as jobs in both the academic and private realms. In addition, we have multiple faculty members pursuing further degrees and certifications, exemplifying our continued importance to life-long learning. Through the UAMS Department of Pediatrics, we also have a formal mentoring program for assistant professors to help them successfully navigate their careers and achieve promotion and/or tenure in a timely manner.
Our research endeavors are thriving as our faculty and section members continue to be involved in both intramural and extramural funded research. Our section is active in numerous clinical trials with a broad range of topics including epilepsy, headaches, neurodevelopmental outcomes, equity and patient advocacy, functional brain mapping, artificial intelligence and much more. Through these trials we are able to offer research involvement to our patients in trials such as gene therapy in Duchenne muscular dystrophy or new treatments in pediatric multiple sclerosis.
These are just a few of the examples of the amazing things occurring within our section. Child neurology is an exciting field with new technologies, treatments and possibilities. I am very proud to work with this dedicated group of individuals who remain committed to Dr. Bornhofen’s initial mission. I welcome you to further explore our site for more information on our clinical, education and research endeavors. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if I could provide any assistance or help answer any questions.
Sincerely,
Erin Willis, M.D.
Associate Professor Pediatrics
Section Chief of Pediatric Neurology
