Sudha Vani kilaru Kessler | Department of Neurology | Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

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Sudha Vani Kilaru Kessler, M.D.

Associate Professor of Neurology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Program Director, Pediatric Epilepsy Fellowship, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia/University of Pennsylvania

Program Director, Child Neurology Residency, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Medical Director, Epilepsy Surgery, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

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Department: Neurology

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46 Contact information
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The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
39 3400 Civic Center Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19104

2e Office: 215-590-1719
32 Fax: 215-590-1771
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Email:
kesslers@email.chop.edu

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Links
85 Laboratory for Cognition and Neural Stimulation
83 Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
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13 Education:
21 9 B.A. 15 (English ) c
28 Yale University, 1996.
21 9 M.D. c
33 Baylor College of Medicine, 2001.
21 9 MSCE 23 (Clinical Epidemiology ) c
67 Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania, 2014.
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1f Post-Graduate Training
24 75 Resident, General Pediatrics, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University, 2001-2003.
24 77 Resident, Child Neurology, University of Pennsylvania/Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2003-2006.
24 8e Fellow, Epilepsy/Clinical Neurophysiology, Columbia Comprehensive Epilepsy Center/New York Presbyterian Hospital, 2006-2007.
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17 Certifications
28 35 American Board of Pediatrics, 2006.
28 43 American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, 2007.
28 4e American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology - Epilepsy, 2013.
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3 8d Permanent link
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b6 > Perelman School of Medicine > Faculty > Details a

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Description of Research Expertise

89 Pediatric Epilepsy, EEG, Antiepileptic Drugs, Epilepsy Surgery, Clinical Epidemiology, Clinical Trials, Brain Stimulation
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Description of Clinical Expertise

5e Pediatric Epilepsy, EEG, Antiepileptic Drugs, Epilepsy Surgery, Ketogenic Diet
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Description of Other Expertise

3a Pediatric Neurology and Epilepsy Education
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Selected Publications

1f7 Zhou Y, Su Y, Yang Q, Li J, Hong Y, Gao T, Zhong Y, Ma X, Jin M, Liu X, Yuan N, Kennedy BC, Wang L, Yan L, Viaene AN, Helbig I, Kessler SK, Kleinman JE, Hyde TM, Nauen DW, Liu C, Liu Z, Shen Z, Li C, Xu S, He J, Weinberger DR, Ming GL, Song H: Cross-species analysis of adult hippocampal neurogenesis reveals human-specific gene expression but convergent biological processes. Nature Neuroscience 28(9): 1820-1829, September 2025.

2a7 Rogers D, Stone RR, Ream M, Pearson R, Pagano LM, Bernson-Leung ME, Troy E, Otallah SI, Kossoff EH, Kessler SK, Borrero-Mejias C, Crowder D, Xixis KI, Rametta SC, Deputy S, Arya K, Nelson A, Wilson JL, McGregor A, Mangum T, Bain JM, Shiloh-Malawsky Y, Candee MS, Gilbert DL, Wollack JB, Qaiser S, Jones R, Strelzik J, Tiongson E, Venkatesan C, Goldstein J, Thamann A, Agurs LD, Schreiner TL, Wallace A, Foster-Barber A. and Gottlieb-Smith R.: Essential Components of Child Neurology Training: Program Director Consensus Recommendations. Annals of the Child Neurology Society September 2025 Notes: in press.

146 Dlugos D, Lozano M, DiVentura B, Farfel G, Shelhaas RA, Kessler SK, Sadlier LG, French J: Appropriate selection of participants in pediatric developmental and epileptic encephalopathy trials: Lessons learned and future opportunities. Epilepsia May 2025.

12b Singh S, Armstrong C, Melamed S, Galligan K, Han M, Digiovine M, Kessler SK, Kennedy BC: Safety profile of intracranial neuromodulation for drug-resistant epilepsy in children. Journal of Neurosurgery May 2025 Notes: in press.

f7 Tomlinson S, Galligan K, Kessler SK, Kennedy BC: Two-Year Outcomes Following Modified Transsylvian Peri-insular Hemispherotomy. Child's Nervous System 41(1): 168, April 2025.

166 Baumgartner ME, Kessler S, Franco AJ, Tomlinson SB, Kennedy BC: Transorbital intraoperative electrocorticography-guided surgical resection for medically refractory developmental epileptic encephalopathy with spike-wave activation in sleep. Epilepsy and Behavior Reports September 2024.

12b Kessler R, Fung FW, Patel A, Gupta N, McHugh T, Gonzalez AK, Rodan L, Harini C, Kessler SK.: Diagnostic Yield of CSF Testing in Infants for Disorders of Biogenic Amine Neurotransmitter Metabolism. Neurology 102(9), April 2024.

f4 Fung FW, Parikh DS, Massey SL, Fitzgerald MP, Vala L, Donnelly M, Jacobwitz M, Kessler SK, Xiao R, Topjian AA, Abend NS.: Periodic Discharges in Critically Ill Children: Predictors and Outcome. 3b J Clin Neurophysiol December 2023.

14c Moeller JM, Gonzalez-Giraldo E, Fung FW, Johnson EL, Kheder A, Maclean J, McGinnis EL, Mulhofer WG, Oster JM, Schmitt SE, Voinescu PE, Wong-Kisiel L, Kidd KJ, Kephart A, Lado FA, Kessler SK: Quality and Validity Evidence for a National In-Training Examination for Epilepsy Fellows 2 3a Neurology Education October 2023.

1a7 Molisani SE, Parikh D, DiGiovine M, Dlugos D, Fitzgerald MP, Fried L, Helbig I, Kessler SK, McDonnell PP, Melamed S, Prelack MS, Sharif U, Tefft S, Tencer J, Witzman S, Shaw K, Abend NS.: A quality improvement initiative to improve folic acid supplementation counseling for adolescent females with epilepsy. Epilepsia 64(10): 2818-2826, October 2023.

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26 Last updated: 12/06/2025
34 The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania c

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