Elaine Wyllie, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, is a world renowned thought leader in epilepsy medicine. She directs the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Pediatric Neurology, ranked by US News and World Report as one of the top four programs in the country. 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, Clinical Neurophysiology, 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 the 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. Together with her colleagues in the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital and Epilepsy Center, Dr. Wyllie built long referral lines for innovative medical or surgical treatment of children with epilepsy. An active clinician, she attracts personal referrals from child neurologists all over the world for consultation on the most challenging cases.
Dr. Wyllie is editor of the leading medical textbook in the field, Wyllie's Treatment of Epilepsy, soon to appear in its fifth edition. Hers was the first major text to bring together, in one volume, the key material related to epilepsy from the disciplines of basic neuroscience, genetics, EEG, pediatric and adult neurology, neuropharmacology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry. It helped define the field's core body of knowledge during its seminal years as a new subspecialty. The book has sold over 40,000 copies in countries on every continent. It is one of the top sellers on Lippincott's neurology list, recognized as the standard in the field of epilepsy medicine. 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. Although her primary research focus is epilepsy surgery, Dr. Wyllie also publishes on diverse topics including pediatric electroencephalography (EEG), the significance of various symptoms during seizures, the use of antiepileptic medications, and diagnosis and treatment of non-epileptic psychogenic seizures. She lectures widely and has presented her research at over 500 scientific meetings and visiting professorships throughout the world. She has delivered Keynote Addresses at many scientific meetings in the United States and abroad, including the Canadian Congress of Neurological Sciences for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Pritchard Family Neurology Residents' Research Day at the University of Toronto Hospital for Sick Children, and the Epilepsy Meeting Commemorating the 350 Year Anniversary of the University of Helsinki, Finland.
Dr. Wyllie has organized and directed over 40 national and international courses and scientific meetings. She founded the first annual Cleveland Clinic International Epilepsy Symposium and the first annual American Epilepsy Society Pediatric Epilepsy 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.
When Dr. Wyllie's administrative role at the Cleveland Clinic was expanded to include leadership of the Center for Pediatric Neurology, it grew from a group of three physicians to a mature team of 11 pediatric neurologists each developing subspecialty programs and collaborating with five pediatric epileptologists. Over the years she has trained and mentors hundreds of trainees in adult and pediatric neurology and epilepsy, many of whom are now recognized as experts and leaders in their field. Trainees presenting her mentored research have won the Thomas Award for Neuroscience Research at the Cleveland Clinic, the American Epilepsy Society Young Investigator Award, the Cleveland Clinic Neuroscience Residents' Research Award, the Charles Locok Award for Epileptology from the German Society for Neuropediatrics, the Cleveland Clinic Epilepsy Fellows Research Award, and the Cleveland Clinic Junior Neuroscience Research Award.
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 and dancing partner, Dr. Robert Wyllie, Chairman of the Pediatric Institute and Physician-in-Chief of the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital.
