Research

The UAMS Section of Child Neurology at Arkansas Children’s maintains an active and growing research program spanning clinical trials, investigator-initiated research, outcomes studies, and collaborative scholarship. Section faculty work closely with the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute (ACRI) to support high-quality pediatric neurology research infrastructure, regulatory processes, and multidisciplinary collaboration.

The section’s research portfolio includes participation in more than 40 clinical trials, numerous peer-reviewed publications, and national and international presentations. Research activity spans multiple pediatric neurology subspecialties, with emphasis on rigorous study execution, ethical conduct, and clinically meaningful outcomes.

The section welcomes collaboration with referring providers, academic partners, and study sponsors interested in pediatric neurology research and clinical trial opportunities.

Clinical Trials Portfolio

The section is currently active in more than 40 clinical trials, including sponsor-supported and investigator-initiated studies conducted in collaboration with multidisciplinary partners and national research networks. Clinical trial activity is supported in partnership with the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute (ACRI), which provides research resources and operational support that strengthen study execution and oversight. The section supports the full study lifecycle, including:

• Feasibility assessment and study selection aligned with patient population and subspecialty expertise
• Coordinated study start-up, activation, and implementation
• Screening and recruitment through subspecialty clinics and longitudinal care programs
• Standardized outcome assessments and protocol-driven follow-up
• Regulatory and safety oversight for pediatric clinical research
• High-quality data collection and protocol adherence for multicenter studies

Selected Recent Clinical Trials

• Neuromuscular
  • WVE-N531 (FORWARD-53): Open-label study of WVE-N531 in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy PI: A. Veerapandiyan, MD
  • RGX202 (AFFINITY DUCHENNE): Gene therapy study in participants with Duchenne muscular dystrophy PI: A. Veerapandiyan, MD
  • ML43702: Long-term follow-up study of risdiplam in spinal muscular atrophy PI: A. Veerapandiyan, MD
• Epilepsy / Developmental & Epileptic Encephalopathies
  • EPX-100-001 (ARGUS Trial): Multicenter randomized placebo-controlled adjunctive therapy trial in Dravet syndrome PI: Debopam Samanta, MD
  • EMPEROR (STK-001): Phase 3 sham-controlled trial evaluating zorevunersen in Dravet syndrome PI: Debopam Samanta, MD
  • LP352-301 (DEEp OCEAN): Phase 3 randomized placebo-controlled study of LP352 in developmental and epileptic encephalopathies PI: Debopam Samanta, MD
  • GWEP19022: Long-term safety study assessing potential chronic liver injury in participants treated with Epidiolex oral solution PI: E. Willis, MD

Selected Recent Faculty Publications

Faculty publish across pediatric neurology subspecialties, including epilepsy, neuromuscular disease, neuroimmunology, neuroimaging, and translational neuroscience. More information can be found at UAMS Profiles: https://uams-triprofiles.uams.edu/profiles/search/

2026

• Berl MM, Wagner J, Caraway A, Loblein H, Novotny EJ, Patrick K, Ostendorf AP, Alexander AL, Eschbach KL, Depositario-Cabacar DF, Vu TA, Oluigbo C, Karia SR, Karakas C, Wong-Kisiel LC, Romanowski EF, McNamara NA, Bolton J, Ailion A, Tatachar P, Pichon PD, Shrey DW, Singh RK, Coryell J, Lin JJ, Koop J, Gonzalez-Giraldo E, Auguste K, Bernardo D, Ciliberto MA, Reddy SB, Ganesh A, Arredondo K, Grinspan Z, Nangia S, Samanta D, Marashly A, Armstrong D, Perry MS. Disparities across the pediatric epilepsy surgery journey: Referral, recommendation, and completion from a national consortium. Epilepsia. Published 2026 Jan 24. PMID: 41579031.
• Samanta D, Karakas C, Fine AL, Pong AW, Koh HY, Keator C, Loddenkemper T, Mohamed IS, Erdemir G, Dixon-Salazar T, Nascimento FA, Bhatia S, Haridas B, Warren AEL, Patel AD. Biomarker discovery in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome: Advances and challenges in electrophysiological, genetic, neuroimaging, and neuroinflammatory approaches. Epilepsy Behav. 2026;176:110834. PMID: 41548392.
• Zafar H, Zahoor S, Cobb S, Palys V, Samanta D. Long-term outcomes of responsive neurostimulation in dominant-hemisphere Rasmussen encephalitis. Acta Neurol Belg. Published 2026 Jan 28. PMID: 41604092.

2025

• Baldi O, Kinnett K, Schrader R, Denger B, Truba N, Sorensen S, Veerapandiyan A, Colvin MK. Gaps in the assessment and care of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions associated with dystrophinopathy. Muscle Nerve. 2025;71(3):377-383. PMID: 39719374.
• Clements ME, Briscoe C, Curcio AM, Douglass LM, Kassiri J, Liu LC, Mathias SV, Moore-Hill DT, Nalluri D, Nath A, Romeu AM, Syed T, Vinarsky V, Wiener S, Yang QJ, Betstadt SJ, Harrison EI, Kulkarni N, Puntambekar P, Samanta D, Singla L, Voinescu PE, Kirkpatrick L. Counseling reproductive-age youth with epilepsy: Literature review and expert opinion from the Epilepsy in the Child-Bearing Ages
• Through Menopause Consortium. Pediatr Neurol. 2025;175:90-101. Published 2025 Nov 7. PMID: 41297128.
• Escalona-Vargas D, Ramirez A, Siegel ER, et al. A customized bed-based stand-alone array of optically pumped magnetometers for fetal magnetocardiography measurements. Sci Rep. 2025;15:7236.
• Grabich S, Ung B, Nadkar A, DeYoung K, Signorovitch J, Veerapandiyan A. Real-world phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer treatment patterns in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: A claims-based analysis. J Comp Eff Res. 2025;14(8):e250037. PMID: 40679364.
• Haskell-Mendoza AP, Ramani P, Dhoot R, Parikh P, Frauscher B, Sinha SR, Muh CR, Southwell D, Husain A, Agashe S. Responsive neurostimulation detections: “Recognizing the unseen”. Epileptic Disord. Published 2025 May 24. PMID: 40411494.
• Samanta D, Bhalla S, Bhatia S, Fine AL, Haridas B, Karakas C, Keator CG, Koh HY, Perry MS, Stafstrom CE, Vidaurre J, Warren AEL. Antiseizure medications for Lennox-Gastaut syndrome: Comprehensive review and proposed consensus treatment algorithm. Epilepsy Behav. 2025;164:110261. PMID: 39854828.
• Samanta D, Nath M. Current and emerging pharmacotherapies in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Expert Opin Pharmacother. Published 2025 Jun 4. PMID: 40468679.
• Samanta D, Naik S. Efficacy and safety of cenobamate in developmental and epileptic encephalopathies: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Seizure. 2025;134:86-96. Published 2025 Nov 23. PMID: 41297143.
• Truba N, Sorensen S, Bearden R, Haley B, Spray B, Kinnett K, Schrader R, Veerapandiyan A, Colvin MK. The BELS questionnaire: A novel screening tool for neurodevelopmental and psychiatric symptoms in pediatric dystrophinopathy. Muscle Nerve. 2025;71(2):153-158. PMID: 39569705.
• Yadala S, Zahoor S, Escalona-Vargas D, Palys V. Acute disruption of cortical epileptiform discharges with thalamic stimulation. J Clin Neurophysiol. 2025;42(5):472-477. Published 2025 Apr 16.

2024

• Goedeker NL, Rogers A, Fisher M, Arya K, Brandsema JF, Farah H, Farrar MA, Felker MV, Gibbons M, Hamid OA, Harmelink M, Herbert K, Kichula E, King K, Lakhotia A, Lee BH, Kuntz NL, Parsons J, Rehborg R, Veerapaniyan A, Zaidman CM. Outcomes of early-treated infants with spinal muscular atrophy: A multicenter, retrospective cohort study. Muscle Nerve. 2024;70(6):1247-1256. PMID: 39370660.
• Ramani PK, Briscoe Abath C, Donatelli S, Hadjinicolaou A, Vega Toro S, Acevedo K, Astorga KR, Parbhoo K, Singh A, Catenaccio E, Jain P, Sahu JK, Samanta D, Harini C. Initial combination versus early sequential standard therapies for infantile epileptic spasms syndrome: Feedback from stakeholders. Epilepsia Open. 2024;9(2):819-822. PMID: 38217384.
• Samanta D. Chance bias arising from TSC2 mutation imbalance in the PREVeNT trial. Ann Neurol. 2024;95(2):413-414. PMID: 38081751.
• Schroth M, Deans J, Arya K, Castro D, De Vivo DC, Gibbons MA, Ionita C, Kuntz NL, Lakhotia A, Neil Knierbein E, Scoto M, Sejersen T, Servais L, Tian C, Waldrop MA, Vázquez-Costa JF. Spinal muscular atrophy update in best practices: Recommendations for diagnosis considerations. Neurol Clin Pract. 2024;14(4):e200310. PMID: 38915908.

2023

• Manbeck C, Johnson T, Sharp G. A narrative review to guide treatment and care for children with Tourette syndrome. Brain Disord. 2023;11. PMID: 40777575.
• Ramani PK, Fawcett K, Guntrum D, Samuel H, Ciafaloni E, Veerapandiyan A. Epilepsy characteristics in Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies. Child Neurol Open. 2023;10:2329048X231159484. Published 2023 Feb 22. PMID: 36844469.
• Ramani PK, Grigorian F, Lightle H, Joshi SV. Paediatric Cogan syndrome masquerading as IgA vasculitis. Mod Rheumatol Case Rep. 2024;8(1):229-236. Published 2023 Dec 29. PMID: 37902167.
• Zhang L, Guo Z, Zhang H, van der Plas E, Koscik TR, Nopoulos PC, Sonka M. Assisted annotation in Deep LOGISMOS: Simultaneous multi-compartment 3D MRI segmentation of calf muscles. Med Phys. Epub ahead of print 2023 Feb 7. PMID: 36750977.

Selected National and International Abstracts

Section faculty and trainees regularly present scholarly work at regional, national, and international meetings. These abstracts reflect ongoing clinical research, quality improvement, and collaborative investigations across pediatric neurology subspecialties, and highlight the section’s commitment to advancing evidence-based care.

• White, L., Bridgforth, M., Spiro, D, Willis, E. An atypical antibody in a classic syndrome: GM2-positive pediatric Bickerstaff encephalitis. Southern Regional Meeting. New Orleans, LA. February 2026.
• Spinoza, A, Willis, E, Kim-McManus, O, Holder, D, Philliben, R. Responsive neurostimulation for treatment of SCN1A-associated developmental and epileptic encephalopathies. American Epilepsy Society. Atlanta, GA. December 2025.
• Escalona-Vargas D, Ramirez A, Eswaran H. Fetal movement assessment using optically pumped magnetometers from multisensor magnetocardiographic recordings. Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. July 2025.
• Samanta, D., Wilson S.M., Koenig, M.K. Caregiver-reported non-seizure outcomes with real-world use of cannabidiol (CBD) in tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC): Results from the BECOME-TSC survey. International Congress on Structural Epilepsy & Symptomatic Seizures. Wallenberg Centre, Gothenburg, Sweden. April 2025.
• Ganucheau, L, Ramani P, Burrow A, Glasier, C, Willis, E. MED17-related neurodegeneration with novel pathogenic variant in an infant born to non-consanguineous parents. Southern Regional Meeting. New Orleans, LA. February 2025.
• Lewis, H, Kiss, A, Haire, J, Willis, E. First-line use of rituximab in pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis. Child Neurology Society Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA. November 2024.
• H. Eswaran, D. Escalona-Vargas, E. Bolin, H. Moody. A non-invasive flexible sensor array for fetal heart electrophysiology. 70th Annual Meeting of the Society for Reproductive Investigation. Brisbane, Australia. March 2023.
• B. Haley, D. Escalona-Vargas, X. Ou, D. Samanta, Sorensen, A. Veerapandiyan, A. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) findings in boys with dystrophinopathy. MDA Clinical & Scientific Conference. March 2023.

Faculty Research Programs and Areas of Interest

The UAMS Section of Child Neurology supports a broad range of faculty-led research programs spanning clinical trials, translational neuroscience, neuroimaging, and multidisciplinary collaborative investigation across various neurologic disorders. The profiles below highlight selected examples of current faculty research focus areas and illustrate the breadth of ongoing scholarly activity within the section.

Selected faculty research programs are highlighted below:

• Timothy R. Koscik, Ph.D.
  • Research Focus Areas: Neurodevelopmental mechanisms of Huntington disease; cortical microstructure; ultra-high-resolution postmortem neuroimaging
    
    Dr. Koscik’s research investigates emerging evidence that Huntington disease (HD) may begin early in life, with maladaptive cortical development contributing to a cascade of changes that later culminate in neurodegeneration and motor symptoms. Because cortical layering is beyond the spatial resolution of typical neuroimaging paradigms, his work uses ultra-high-resolution imaging of postmortem HD brains to evaluate cortical microstructural features with greater precision. This research aims to determine whether the severity of cortical layering disruption correlates with HD mutation length in a dose-dependent manner, with the goal of informing therapeutic targeting and identifying optimal developmental windows for intervention.
    
• Diana Escalona-Vargas, Ph.D.
  • Research Focus Areas: Multimodal neuroimaging; cognitive brain development; pediatric epilepsy; language and memory circuitry; fetal brain development
    
    Dr. Escalona-Vargas leads a research program focused on expanding the applications of multimodal neuroimaging to study cognitive brain development and function across the lifespan. Her group uses multimodal neuroimaging approaches to evaluate neural network function in children in both health and disease. A major area of emphasis is characterization of language and memory circuitry to optimize presurgical planning and improve postsurgical outcomes in pediatric epilepsy. Additional work examines the effects of environmental factors, including weight status, stress, and emotional regulation, on brain function in children. She collaborates closely with the fetal laboratory at UAMS on studies of maternal-fetal physiology and fetal brain development, including the effects of clinical drug exposures in low- and high-risk pregnancies, using electrophysiologic techniques and other multidisciplinary methods.