Dr. Elaine Wyllie, Professor of Pediatrics, is a world renowned thought leader in epilepsy medicine. Dr. Wyllie has been on the Castle Connolly list of America’s Best Doctors for many years, as well as on several other national and regional Top Doctors lists. Her many honors and awards include the highly competitive Award for Outstanding Work in Epilepsy Research from the Milken Family Foundation and the American Epilepsy Society and Honorary Membership in the Canadian Association for Child Neurology.
Dr. Wyllie is certified by the American Boards of Pediatrics, Sleep Medicine, and Psychiatry and Neurology, with Special Competency in Pediatric Neurology. During her training in neurology, epilepsy, and clinical neurophysiology, she won the Cleveland Clinic Neuroscience Residents’ Research Award three years in a row, as well as the Cleveland Clinic Lower Scientific Paper Award. After her training she joined the professional staff of Cleveland Clinic to establish the pediatric epilepsy program, which grew under her leadership into one of the largest and most respected programs in the world. She then led Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Pediatric Neurology through a period of explosive growth to become ranked in 2012 as the number one program in Ohio for the fifth consecutive year and one of the top three programs in the country by US News & World Report.
Together with her colleagues in Cleveland Clinic’s Epilepsy Center and Children’s Hospital, Dr. Wyllie built long referral lines for innovative medical or surgical treatment of children with epilepsy. An active clinician, she attracts personal referrals from physicians worldwide for consultation on the most challenging cases. Dr. Wyllie is editor of the leading medical textbook in the field, Wyllie's Treatment of Epilepsy, now in its fifth edition, which has sold over 40,000 copies in countries on every continent. She also edited nine other volumes on various topics in epilepsy medicine and authored The Cleveland Clinic Guide to Epilepsy, an authoritative book for the lay public.
Dr. Wyllie has published over 250 reports on her research in epilepsy in scientific journals. Throughout her career she has championed offering early surgery to infants and children with uncontrolled seizures, to reduce suffering and maximize developmental potential. Her current research, expanding and redefining key aspects of the selection criteria for epilepsy surgery candidates, is influencing clinical practice at epilepsy centers throughout the world. She lectures widely and has presented her research at over 500 scientific meetings and visiting professorships throughout the world.
Dr. Wyllie has organized and directed over 40 national and international courses and scientific meetings. Her innovations include founding the first annual Cleveland Clinic International Epilepsy Symposium and the first annual American Epilepsy Society Pediatric State-of-the-Art Symposium and Scientific Highlights Session. She has served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals and on the executive boards and committees of several national and international scientific societies.
Dr. Wyllie has trained and mentored hundreds of young physicians in adult and pediatric neurology and epilepsy, many of whom are now recognized as experts and leaders in the field. Trainees presenting her mentored research have won the Thomas Award for Neuroscience Research at Cleveland Clinic, the American Epilepsy Society Young Investigator Award, the Cleveland Clinic Neuroscience Residents’ Research Award, the Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Fellows Research Award, and the Charles Locok Award for Epileptology from the German Society for Neuropediatrics.
Now that her two sons are grown and pursuing their own careers in science and technology, Dr. Wyllie’s serious hobby is ballroom dancing with coaching on a professional level. She is privileged to share her life with her husband, colleague, and dancing partner, Dr. Robert Wyllie, Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of Medical Operations at Cleveland Clinic.