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Kavita P. Thakkar, MD
- Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
- Co-Director, Pediatric Clinical Neuroimmunology, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
- Program Faculty, Adult Clinical Neuroimmunology Clinic, UPMC Department of Neurology
Kavita Thakkar is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Neurology and Child Development Unit.
Thakkar obtained her medical degree from Seth G. S Medical College, Mumbai, India. She completed her pediatric residency training from UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in 2009. After working as a pediatrician in the community for 2 years, she returned for further training in child neurology at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. She graduated as a child neurologist in 2014 and joined the Pitt faculty. She has received junior faculty clinician award from department of Pediatrics in 2014. She also received the outstanding junior member award by the Child Neurology Society in 2015. During her time as a faculty member, Dr. Thakkar obtained further experience in adult clinical neuroimmunology from UPMC Presbyterian Neuroimmunology and Multiple sclerosis center.
Thakkar is board certified in Neurology with special qualification in Child Neurology. Her researchand clinical interests focus on neuroimmunological and autoimmune disorders of the brain in children and adults. She co-directs the Clinical Pediatric Neuroimmunology Program at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and also sees adults with neuroimmunological problems at the Adult Neuroimmunology/Multiple sclerosis center at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital. Thakkar is also actively engaged in education of trainees at all levels as a part of the child neurology residency education committee.
Professional and Scientific Society Memberships
- General Medical Council, United Kingdom, 2002-2005
- American Academy of Pediatrics, 2006-2011
- American Academy of Neurology, 2011-Present
- Child Neurology Society, 2011-Present
- The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Center, 2014-Present
- Opsoclonus Myoclonus Study Group, 2018-Present
- International Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Study Group, 2019-Present
Education & Training
- MD, Seth GS Medical College, 2002
- MRCS in Basic Surgery, Princess Alexandra Hospital, 2003-2005
- Internship in Pediatrics, Tod Children’s Hospital/Western Reserve Care System, 2006-2007
- Residency in Pediatrics, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2007-2009
- Residency in Child Neurology, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2011-2014
- Fellowship in Neuroimmunology, UPMC Magee Hospital, 2019-Present
Selected Publications
Seese, R, Furtado A, Thakkar K, Torok K. Unilateral neuroimaging findings in pediatric craniofacial scleroderma: Parry-Romberg syndrome and en coup de sabre. Journal of Child neurology, 2020 Accepted manuscript.
Sands TT, Miceli F, Lesca G, Beck AE, Sadleir LG, Arrington DK, Schönewolf-Greulich B, Moutton S, Lauritano A, Nappi P, Soldovieri MV, Scheffer IE, Mefford HC, Stong N, Heinzen EL, Goldstein DB, Perez AG, Kossoff EH, Stocco A, Sullivan JA, Shashi V, Gerard B, Francannet C, Bisgaard AM, Tümer Z, Willems M, Rivier F, Vitobello A, Thakkar K, Rajan DS, Barkovich AJ, Weckhuysen S, Cooper EC, Taglialatela M, Cilio MR. Autism and developmental disability caused by KCNQ3 gain-of-function variants. Annals of neurology 2019;86(2):181-92.
Cramer N, Munjal N, Ware D, Ramgopal S, Simon D, Freeman MC, Michaels MG, Stem C, Thakkar K, Williams JV, Panigrahy A, Neville DNW, Owusu-Ansah S. New Cluster of Acute Flaccid Myelitis in Western Pennsylvania. Annals of emergency medicine 2019;74(4):503-8.
Thakkar K, Maricich SM, Alper G. Acute Ataxia in Childhood: 11-Year Experience at a Major Pediatric Neurology Referral Center. Journal of child neurology 2016;31(9):1156-60
Buhrman D, Thakkar K, Poe M, Escolar ML. Natural history of Sanfilippo syndrome type A. Journal of inherited metabolic disease 2014;37(3):431-7.
Academic and Research Interests
- Autoimmune and Inflammatory disorders of the nervous system
Research Grants
FP00009035, A prospective study of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) to define natural history, risk factors, and pathogenetic mechanisms, (PI, effort 2%), 2019-2024, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID)