Deepa Soundara Rajan, MD, FAAP

  • Associate Professor of Pediatrics
  • Director of Neurogenetics, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
  • Director, Program for the study of Neurodevelopment in Rare Disorders (NDRD)

Administrative Assistant: Diane Giel

Deepa S Rajan MD is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (UPSOM). She received her medical education from Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, India and completed training in Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Michigan.  She then completed training in Child Neurology at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and stayed on as faculty within the Division of Child Neurology in 2013. Rajan is certified through the ABP in Pediatrics, through the ABPN in Neurology with Special Qualifications in Child Neurology and Epilepsy.

As a clinical specialist in pediatric neurology, Rajan provides care for inpatients and outpatients with a wide variety of neurological issues. Dr Rajan established and directs The Neurogenetics Clinic and Program at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to harness novel genetic technology for the diagnosis and care of patients with undiagnosed neurological diseases. Dr Rajan is also the Director of The Program for the Study of Neurodevelopment in Rare Disorders where she is currently principal Investigator in a number of clinical trials including gene therapy trials for neurodegenerative rare diseases. 

Dr Rajan has an active role in medical student and neurology resident teaching in the Department of Pediatrics. She is currently funded through foundation grants for projects in new gene discovery in GEMIN5 gene and Localized Scleroderma. She is currently elected Chair of the Neurogenetics Section of the American Academy of Neurology. 

Rajan is certified through the ABP in Pediatrics, through the ABPN in Neurology with Special Qualifications in Child Neurology and Epilepsy. Her recognitions include the Shelden Brenner Research Award in 2010, Sanford N. Cohen Award for Outstanding Graduating Resident (2010) and the Bonita F. Stanton Professionalism in Pediatrics Award (2010).

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships

  • American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010-Present
  • American Academy of Neurology, 2010-Present
  • American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, 2020-Present
  • Child Neurology Society, 2010-Present
  • American Epilepsy Society, 2016-Present
  • International Child Neurology Association, 2017-Present

Education & Training

  • MBBS, Bangalore Medical College, Rajov Gandhi Unversity of Health Sciences, 2005
  • Rotatory Internship, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, 2004-2005
  • Residency in Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan-Wayne State University, 2007-2010
  • Residency in Child Neurology, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2010-2013

Selected Publications

Smith SE, Gannotti M, Hurvitz EA, Jensen FE, Krach LE, Kruer MC, Msall ME, Noritz G, Rajan DS, Aravamuthan BR. Adults with cerebral palsy require ongoing neurologic care: A systematic review. Ann Neurol. 2021 Feb 7. doi: 10.1002/ana.26040. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33550625.

Kour S*, Rajan DS*( equal contribution), Fortuna TR, Andersen EN, Ward C, Lee Y, Lee S, Shin YB, Chae JH, Choi M, Siquier K, Cantagrel V, Amiel J, Stolerman ES, Barnett SS< Cousin MA, Castro D, McDonald K , Kirmse B, Nemeth AH, Rajasundaram D, Innes AM, Lynch D, Frosk P, Collins A, Gibbons M, Yang M, Desquerre I, Boddaert N, Gitiaux C, Rydning SL, Selmer KK, Urreizti R, Garcia-Oguiza A, Osorio AN, Verdura E, Pujol A, McCurry HR< Landers JE, Agnihotri S, AndriescuEC, Moody SB, Phornphutkul C, SAcato MJG, Begtrup A, Houlden H, Kirschner J, Scholrling D, Rudnik-Schoneborn S, Strom TM, Leiz S, Juliette K, Richardson R, Yang Y, Zhang Y, Wang M, Wang J, Wang X, Platzer K, Donkervoort S, Bonnemann CG, Wagner M, Issa MY, Elbendary HM, Stanley V, Maroofian R, Gleeson JG, Zaki MS, Senderek J, Pandey UB. Loss of function mutations in GEMIN5 cause a neurodevelopmental disorder. Nat Commun. 2021 May 7; 12(1):2558.doi:10.1038/s41467-021-22627-w.PMID:33963192.

Rajan DS, Kour S, Fortuna TR, Cousin MA, Barnett SS, Niu Z, Babovic-Vuksanovic D, Klee EW, Kirmse B, Innes M, Rydning SL, Selmer KK, Vigeland MD, Erichsen AK, Nemeth AH, Millan F, DeVile C, Fawcett K, Legendre A, Sims D, Schnekenberg RP, Burglen L, Mercier S, Bakhtiari S, Martinez-Salas E, Wigby K, Lenberg J, Friedman JR, Kruer MC, Pandey UB. Autosomal Recessive Cerebellar Atrophy and Spastic Ataxia in Patients With Pathogenic Biallelic Variants in GEMIN5. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2022 Feb 28;10:783762. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2022.783762. PMID: 35295849.

Francisco-Velilla R, Embarc-Buh A, Del Caño-Ochoa F, Abellan S, Vilar M, Alvarez S, Fernandez-Jaen A, Kour S, Rajan DS, Pandey UB, Ramón-Maiques S, Martinez-Salas E. Functional and structural deficiencies of Gemin5 variants associated with neurological disorders. Life Sci Alliance. 2022 Apr 7;5(7):e202201403. doi: 10.26508/lsa.202201403. PMID: 35393353.

Sivaswamy L, Kumar A, Rajan DS, Behen M, Muzik O, Chugani D, Chugani H. A diffusion tensor imaging study of the cerebellar pathways in children with autism spectrum disorder. J Child Neurol. 2010 Oct;25(10):1223-31.

Lemke JR, Geider K, Helbig KL, Heyne HO, Schütz H, Hentschel J, Courage C, Depienne C, Nava C, Heron D, Møller RS, Hjalgrim H, Lal D, Neubauer BA, Nürnberg P, Thiele H, Kurlemann G, Arnold GL, Bhambhani V, Bartholdi D, Pedurupillay CR, Misceo D, Frengen E, Strømme P, Dlugos DJ, Doherty ES, Bijlsma EK, Ruivenkamp CA, Hoffer MJ, Goldstein A, Rajan DS, Narayanan V, Ramsey K, Belnap N, Schrauwen I, Richholt R, Koeleman BP, Sá J, Mendonça C, de Kovel CG, Weckhuysen S, Hardies K, De Jonghe P, De Meirleir L, Milh M, Badens C, Lebrun M, Busa T, Francannet C, Piton A, Riesch E, Biskup S, Vogt H, Dorn T, Helbig I, Michaud JL, Laube B, Syrbe S. Delineating the GRIN1 phenotypic spectrum: A distinct genetic NMDA receptor encephalopathy. Neurology. 2016 Jun 7;86(23):2171-8. 

Full Publication List via NIH PubMed »