Department Reports
Developmental Medicine
The Division of Developmental Medicine specializes in evaluating and caring for children and adolescents throughout Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho who have special healthcare needs. We provide comprehensive, family-centered and multidisciplinary care for children with a wide variety of conditions, including autism spectrum disorders, central nervous system abnormalities, cerebral palsy, developmental delay, fragile X, hydrocephalus, spina bifida and Tourette syndrome.
We tailor our services to the individual and family. Our team provides unique services such as prenatal consultation to mothers carrying a fetus with central nervous system abnormalities (in conjunction with the Seattle Children’s Prenatal Diagnosis and Treatment Program), the evaluation and management of spasticity, and High Risk Infant Follow-up (in collaboration with the University of Washington NICU). Efforts to successfully implement transition of individuals with these health conditions to adult healthcare systems will be a central focus of the division in the future.
Division faculty members currently participate in national multicenter studies focusing on Tourette syndrome, spina bifida, Fragile X, cerebral palsy and autism. Recognizing and understanding the impact of both the primary disorder and specific evidence-based management interventions on quality of life, we emphasize activity and participation as common threads throughout these clinical research efforts. Translating basic science discoveries related to the genetic basis of posterior fossa brain abnormalities — from animal to human models of disease — is another thrust of our faculty’s research.
Training the future providers and leaders in developmental medicine is central to the division’s mission. Educational programs include our ACGME-accredited Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics fellowship. Graduates of this program are in leadership positions in academic centers and professional subspecialty organizations across the country. Division faculty are actively involved in the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) interdisciplinary training program at the University of Washington and in the training of residents in Pediatrics, Pediatric Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine.
Leadership and Faculty
Faculty
- Forrest Curt Bennett, MD
- Kristie F. Bjornson, PT, PhD
- Charles A. Cowan, MD
- Beth Ellen Davis, MD, MPH
- Daniel A. Doherty, MD, PhD
- Gwen M. Glew, MD
- Anne M. Leavitt, MD
Fellows
- Lisa Herzig, MD
- Emily Myers, MD
Team Member Spotlight
Erin Mulvenon
RN, BSN
After I attended last summer's Spina Bifida Association National Conference, which was focused on education, we started giving families evidence-based tools developed to help spina bifida patients navigate the educational system. This is one of the ways we partner with families and teachers to meet students’ individual needs and work toward positive educational outcomes.