Joseph Vithayathil, MD PhD
Instructor A of Neurology
Instructor A of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Department: Neurology
Contact information
3500 Civic Center Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 215-590-1719
Fax: 215-590-1771
Lab: 215-906-4152
Fax: 215-590-1771
Lab: 215-906-4152
Publications
Education:
B.A. (Biology and Economics)
Washington University in St. Louis, 2007.
PhD (Neurosciences)
Case Western Reserve University, 2015.
MD (Medical Doctorate)
Case Western Reserve University, 2017.
B.A. (Biology and Economics)
Washington University in St. Louis, 2007.
PhD (Neurosciences)
Case Western Reserve University, 2015.
MD (Medical Doctorate)
Case Western Reserve University, 2017.
Post-Graduate Training
Child Neurology Residency, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2017-2022.
Research Fellow, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2022-2023.
Child Neurology Residency, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2017-2022.
Research Fellow, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2022-2023.
Certifications
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, 2022.
Permanent linkAmerican Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, 2022.
Description of Research Expertise
Dr. Joseph Vithayathil is a board-certified pediatric neurologist with the Division of Neurology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. His clinical interests are related to patients with movement disorders or disabilities due to perinatal hypoxic ischemic brain injury and neurogenetic disorders that affect brain iron metabolism.He is actively pursuing basic science research projects studying the role of brain iron dysregulation and oxidative stress in perinatal hypoxic ischemic brain injury. In addition, he is interested in genetic pediatric neurodegenerative disorders that exhibit iron dysregulation in the brain to further understand how brain iron metabolism alterations contribute to cell death. He hopes to unravel some of the pathways that regulate the relationship between intracellular iron accumulation and oxidative stress as a way to identify novel therapeutic targets that can offer neuroprotection and prevent neurodegeneration.
Selected Publications
Joseph Vithayathil, Akash Virupakshaiah, Geraldine Liu, Sanjeev K Swami, Robert A Avery, Grant T Liu, and Jennifer L McGuire : Lyme Disease and Papilledema: A Retrospective Study on Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes. Journal of Child Neurology 39(9-10): 334-342, August 2024.Xing B, Barbour AJ, Vithayathil J, Li X, Dutko S, Fawcett-Patel J, Lancaster E, Talos DM, Jensen FE.: Reversible synaptic adaptations in a subpopulation of murine hippocampal neurons following early-life seizures. Journal of Clinical Investigation 134: e175167, Jan 2024.
Vithayathil J, Freeman C, Jacobwitz M, Schwartz ES, Agarwal S.: Prolonged neurologic deficits with brain MRI changes following ECT in an adolescent with a CACNA1a-related disorder; a case report. BMC Neurol 22: 466, Dec 2022.
Gavazzi F, Pierce SR, Vithayathil J, Cunningham K, Anderson K, McCann J, Moll A, Muirhead K, Sherbini O, Prange E, Dubbs H, Tochen L, Fraser J, Helbig I, Lewin N, Thakur N, Adang LA.: Psychometric outcome measures in beta-propeller protein-associated neurodegeneration (BPAN). Mol Genet Metab 137: 26-32, Sep-Oct 2022.
Vithayathil J, Adang L, Alves CAPF.: Widening the MRI Findings of PLA2G6-Associated Neurodegeneration. Neuropediatrics 6: 509-510, Dec 2021.
Fitzgerald MP, Kaufman MC, Massey SL, Fridinger S, Prelack M, Ellis C, Ortiz-Gonzalez X, Fried LE, DiGiovine MP; CHOP Pediatric Epilepsy Program Collaborative; Melamed S, Malcolm M, Banwell B, Stephenson D, Witzman SM, Gonzalez A, Dlugos D, Kessler SK, Goldberg EM, Abend NS, Helbig I. : Assessing seizure burden in pediatric epilepsy using an electronic medical record-based tool through a common data element approach. Epilepsia 62(7): 1617-1628, July 2021.
Vithayathil J, Pucilowska J, Landreth GE.: Chapter 3 - ERK/MAPK signaling and autism spectrum disorders. Progress in Brain Research. Anantha Shekhar (eds.). 241: 63-112, Nov 2018.
Pucilowska J, Vithayathil J, Pagani M, Kelly C, Karlo JC, Robol C, Morella I, Gozzi A, Brambilla R, Landreth GE.: Pharmacological Inhibition of ERK Signaling Rescues Pathophysiology and Behavioral Phenotype Associated with 16p11.2 Chromosomal Deletion in Mice. J Neurosci 38: 6640-6652, Jul 2018.
Vithayathil J, Pucilowska J, Friel D, Landreth GE.: Chronic impairment of ERK signaling in glutamatergic neurons of the forebrain does not affect spatial memory retention and LTP in the same manner as acute blockade of the ERK pathway. Hippocampus 27(12): 1239-1249, Dec 2017.
Vithayathil J, Pucilowska J, Goodnough LH, Atit RP, Landreth GE.: Dentate Gyrus Development Requires ERK Activity to Maintain Progenitor Population and MAPK Pathway Feedback Regulation. J Neurosci 35: 6836-48, Apr 2015.