Dana Douglas Cummings, MD, PhD

Administrative Assistant: Melissa White

As a pediatric neurology educator with a long-term commitment to global health, Cummings worked with a non-governmental organization in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the former Soviet Union, where he had the opportunity to introduce modern concepts of clinical neuroscience and the role of multidisciplinary care across the lifespan in countries with high mortality and disability-adjust life years burden related to neurologic disorders including stroke and neurodevelopmental disabilities. As a faculty member in pediatrics and the Pediatric Stroke Program Director at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Cummings has set care standards and provided education to students, residents, fellows and faculty in evaluation and management of pediatric stroke. He served as site investigator for NIH funded Thrombolysis in Pediatric Stroke (TIPS) study (RO1 NS065818).

In 2018 he became a site investigator for the ongoing Vascular Effects of Infection in Pediatric Stroke Study (VIPS-II, R56NS06282). He continues to serve as the member of research advisory committee of the NINDS Stroke Trials Network Coordinating Center at UPSOM (NIH 127927). Based on special brain attack procedures including brain attack MRI protocols developed in collaboration with radiology and emergency medicine faculty for the TIPS study, Cummings has been able to expedite multidisciplinary care leading to life-changing procedures including mechanical thrombectomy in arterial ischemic stroke. His involvement in the care of patients with pediatric brain attack and stroke has also allowed him to collaborate with faculty and trainees in the development of case reports of clinical innovations and unusual presentations on pediatric brain attack. In 2022 he was appointed as Director for clinical research in the Division of Child Neurology. Cummings serves on the editorial boards of Pediatric Neurology(www.pedneuro.com) and Annals of the Child Neurology Society (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal /28313267) Cummings’ current research interests include the role of infectious pathogens and inflammatory processes in arterial ischemic stroke. He is interested in how loss of cerebral autoregulation in infants with congenital heart disease complicated by arterial ischemic stroke can impact clinical outcomes. He is also interested in how medical education research can improve learning, scholarly effectiveness, and well-being in residents and students.

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships

• American Academy of Neurology, 2000- Present
• World Federation of Neurology, 2000-Present
• International Child Neurology Association, 2014-Present
• Internatiional Pediatric Stroke Organization, 2019-Present
• Child Neurology Society, 2025-present