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Robyn Filipink, MD

  • Associate Professor
  • Clinical Director, Children’s Development Unit
  • Director, Movement Disorder Clinic
  • Director, Tourette Syndrome Clinic
  • Director, Fragile X Syndrome Center

Administrative Assistant: Cleo Harmonson

Robyn Filipink is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. After completing medical school at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biological Sciences, she completed her residency in Pediatrics and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (NDD) at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and started her faculty position at Children’s. Dr. Filipink’s certifications are in Pediatrics, Neurology with Special Qualifications in Child Neurology and Neuro Developmental Disabilities. She was awarded the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Department of Pediatrics Junior Clinician Award during her first year on faculty.

Filipink is the Director of the Movement Disorders clinic and the Tourette syndrome clinic. She evaluates, educates and treats patients with a range of symptomsincluding tics, chorea, tremor, ataxia, dystonia, Parkinsonism and related genetic neurodegenerative disorders. Her expertise in NDD expands her care to patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder, neurodegenerative disorders and genetic syndromes. Filipink is the Director of the Fragile X Center. She provides initial evaluations, referrals and long term follow up to children, adults and their families who have Fragile X syndrome and Fragile X Associated syndromes. This clinic participates in the Fragile X Clinical and Research Consortium.

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships

  • American Academy of Neurology, 2005-Present 
  • Child Neurology Society, 2006-Present 

National Service

  • CASK Gene Foundation, Medical and Scientific Advisory Board Member, 2022-Present
  • Fragile X Online Registry With Accessible Research Database, Seizure Guideline Committee Member, 2021
  • International Down Syndrome Database group member, 2020-Present

Education & Training

  • BS, Biology, Canisius College, 1998
  • MD, State University of New York School of Medicine and Biological Sciences, 2002
  • Residency in Pediatrics, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2002-2004
  • Residency in Child Neurology, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2004-2008

Selected Publications

Vasudevan G, Filipink R, Gaesser J, Kazmerski TM, Sogawa Y, Kirkpatrick L. Preferences and experiences of parents/guardians of youth with epilepsy and intellectual disability on reproductive health counseling. Epilepsy Behav. 2024 Mar;152:109658. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2024.109658. Epub 2024 Jan 25. PMID: 38277851

Santoro JD, Khoshnood MM, Jafarpour S, Nguyen L, Boyd NK, Vogel BN, Kammeyer R, Patel L, Manning MA, Rachubinski AL, Filipink RA, Baumer NT, Santoro SL, Franklin C, Tamrazi B, Yeom KW, Worley G, Espinosa JM, Rafii MS. Neuroimaging abnormalities associated with immunotherapy responsiveness in Down syndrome regression disorder. Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2024 Apr;11(4):1034-1045. doi: 10.1002/acn3.52023. Epub 2024 Feb 20. PMID: 38375538; PMCID: PMC11021615

Santoro JD, Spinazzi NA, Filipink RA, Hayati-Rezvan P, Kammeyer R, Patel L, Sannar EA, Dwyer L, Banerjee AK, Khoshnood M, Jafarpour S, Boyd NK, Partridge R, Gombolay GY, Christy AL, Real de Asua D, Del Carmen Ortega M, Manning MA, Van Mater H, Worley G, Franklin C, Stanley MA, Brown R, Capone GT, Quinn EA, Rafii MS. Immunotherapy responsiveness and risk of relapse in Down syndrome regression disorder. Transl Psychiatry. 2023 Aug 8;13(1):276. doi: 10.1038/s41398-023-02579-z. PMID: 37553347; PMCID: PMC10409776

Berry-Kravis E, Filipink RA, Frye RE, Golla S, Morris SM, Andrews H, Choo TH, Kaufmann WE; FORWARD Consortium. Seizures in Fragile X Syndrome: Associations and Longitudinal Analysis of a Large Clinic-Based Cohort. Front Pediatr. 2021 Dec 30;9:736255. doi: 10.3389/fped.2021.736255. PMID: 35036394; PMCID: PMC8756611

Liao J, Coffman KA, Locker J, Padiath QS, Nmezi B, Filipink RA, Hu J, Sathanoori M, Madan-Khetarpal S, McGuire M, Schreiber A, Moran R, Friedman N, Hoffner L, Rajkovic A, Yatsenko SA, Surti U. Deletion of conserved non-coding sequences downstream from NKX2-1: A novel disease-causing mechanism for benign hereditary chorea. Mol Genet Genomic Med. 2021 Apr;9(4):e1647. doi: 10.1002/mgg3.1647. Epub 2021 Mar 5. PMID: 33666368; PMCID: PMC8123744

Santoro JD, Patel L, Kammeyer R, Filipink RA, Gombolay GY, Cardinale KM, Real de Asua D, Zaman S, Santoro SL, Marzouk SM, Khoshnood M. Assessment and Diagnosis of Down Syndrome Regression Disorder: International Expert Consensus. Frontiers in Neurology. 2022 Jul 15;13:940175. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.940175. PMID: 35911905; PMCID: PMC9335003

Academic and Research Interests

  • Fragile X Syndrome
  • Deep Brain Stimulation
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder