Clinical Neuroscience, Functional and Molecular Imaging, and Neurological Disorders
Dr. Theodore received his B.A. degree from Harvard College and M.D. degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. After a medical internship and residency, and a neurology residency at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, he came to the National Institutes of Health for a fellowship in Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Neurology, and Clinical Neurophysiology, and was Chief of the Clinical Epilepsy Section, NINDS from 1988 to 2021. He was Vice-President and President of the American Epilepsy Society from 2020 to 2025. He received the American Epilepsy Society Outstanding Clinical Investigator Award in 1991 and the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievements in Clinical Medicine in 2024. Dr. Theodore is interested new therapeutic approaches to uncontrolled epilepsy, and using neuroimaging techniques to study cerebral metabolism, neuropharmacology, and functional cognitive anatomy.
Research Interests:
Dr. Theodore's research seeks to improve treatment of epilepsy by understanding the mechanisms of action of antiepileptic drugs, as well as developing new methods for evaluation and treatment, as well as the relationship between drug actions at the cellular and subcellular level and clinical effects, both on seizure control and neuropsychological function.
His research on the evaluation and treatment of uncontrolled epilepsy, emphasizing non-invasive approaches to localization of epileptic foci, cognitive mapping and surgical therapy. The techniques employed include video-EEG monitoring, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), positron emission tomography (PET), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including functional MRI and MR spectroscopy. We use multimodality image co-registration, and statistical parametric mapping, as well as other image analysis techniques.
Selected Publications:
Rolinski R, Austermuehle A, Wiggs E, Agrawal S, Sepeta L, Gaillard WD, Zaghloul K, Inati SK, Theodore WH. Functional MRI and Direct Cortical Stimulation: Prediction of Postoperative Language Decline. Epilepsia. 2019;60:560-570. doi: 10.1111/epi.14666
Dickstein LP, Liow J-S, Austermuehle A, Zoghbi S, Inati SK, Zaghloul K, Zanotti-Fregonara P, Theodore WH. Neuroinflammation in Neocortical Epilepsy Measured by PET imaging of Translocator Protein. Epilepsia 2019 60(6):1248-1254. PMID: 31144767. DOI: 10.1111/epi.15967
Rolinski R, You X, Gonzalez-Castillo J, Norato G, Reynolds RC, Inati SK, Theodore WH. Language lateralization from task-based and resting state functional MRI in patients with epilepsy. Hum Brain Mapp. 2020 Aug 1;41(11):3133-3146. doi: 10.1002/hbm.25003. Epub 2020 Apr 24.PMID: 32329951
Akinsoji EO, Leibovitch E, Billioux J, Lopes Abath Neto O, Ray-Chaudhury A, Inati SK, Zaghloul K, Heiss J, Jacobson S, Theodore WH. HHV-6 and Hippocampal Volume in Patients with Mesial Temporal Sclerosis. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. 2020 Sep;7(9):1674-1680. doi: 10.1002
Theodore WH, Leibovitch E, Billioux JB, Inati SK, Zaghloul K, Heiss J, Gaillard WD, Jacobson S. Human Herpes Virus 6 and Epilepsy. Epilepsia Open, Epilepsia Open. 2021 Dec; 6(4): 777–780. PMCID: PMC8633468 PMID: 34324277 doi: 10.1002/epi4.12531
Schreiber JM, Wiggs E, Cuento R, Norato G, Dustin IH, Rolinski R, Austermuehle A Zhou X, Inati SK, Gibson KM, PPearl PL, Theodore WH. A Randomized Controlled Trial of SGS742, a GABA-B Receptor Antagonist, for SSADH Deficiency. J Child Neurol 2021; 36:1189-1199. doi: 10.1177/08830738211012804. PMID: 34015244
Repert L, Sepeta LN, Panjeti-Moore D , Akinsoji E, Sherer C, Hamidullah-Thiam A, Theodore WH.. Cognitive function and the longitudinal hippocampal axis in mesial temporal sclerosis. Epilepsy and Behavior 2023 Oct:147:109413. PMID: 37716331 PMCID: PMC10591949
Serlin Y, Patel B, Hayday E, Kilgore-Gomez A, Wu T, Rahman SA, Theodore WH, Inati SK. Distinct medial temporal volumetric signatures in extra-medial temporal lobe lesional epilepsy. Epilepsia Open. 2026 Feb;11(1):230-239. doi: 10.1002/epi4.70201. Epub 2025 Dec 19.PMID: 41418789
Giovacchini G, Toczek MT, L ang L, Theodore WH. Quantification of 5HT1A receptors in temporal lobe epilepsy with PET and 18F-FCWAY: effect of modeling methods on group discrimination. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2025 Dec 7: PMID: 41355188 PMCID: PMC12685699
Giovacchini G, Marciano A, Agrawal S, Theodore WH. Is Temporal Lober Epilepsy A Progressive Disease? Insights From a Dual-tracer Partial Volume Correction Study. Epilepsy Research in press.