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Yoshimi Sogawa, MD, MS

  • Associate Professor of Pediatrics
  • Director for Clinical Research, Division of Child Neurology, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
  • Director, Early Onset Epileptic Encephalopathy Clinic, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

Yoshimi Sogawa is an Associate Professor in the Division of Neurology and Child Development Unit.  Sogawa successfully completed board certification in Pediatrics (2007), Neurology with special qualifications in Child Neurology (2007), Clinical Neurophysiology (2009), and Epilepsy (2013). Sogawa received her MD degree from Niigata University School of Medicine, Japan in 1995. She completed her residency training in Pediatrics and Neurology at Schneider Children’s Hospital in Long Island, NY and fellowship training in Clinical Neurophysiology (EEG) at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY. She was awarded an NIH sponsored Neurological Sciences Academic Development Award (K12, NS048856) in 2009. During this period, she received a master degree from the Clinical Research Training Program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Recognition of her research expertise is reflected in Outstanding Junior Member award from Child Neurology Society and the Early Career Physician-Scientist Award from the American Epilepsy Society.

Since she joined the University of Pittsburgh in 2012, Sogawa has been committed to clinical care, research and education in the field of pediatric epilepsy. Sogawa is a director of early onset epileptic encephalopathy clinic.  Sogawa has been a collaborator and site-primary investigator for several NIH and industory funded clinical trials on childhood epilepsy. She is conducting a longitudinal study of developmental outcomes in infantile spasms, a rare, infantile onset epilepsy. 

Sogawa has published more than twenty peer-reviewed studies, invited reviews, and book chapters. On an international level, she has served on the Task Force on Epilepsy Syndromes under the commission on Classification and Terminology of the International League against Epilepsy (ILAE), the leading international organization for epilepsy care. Sogawa is appointed to a director for clinical research in division of child neurology, supervising residents/fellows for their scholarly activity and collaborate with other divisions such as cardiology, emergency medicine and adolescent medicine.

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships

  • American Epilepsy Society, 1999-Present
  • Child Neurology Society, 2003-2006 
  • American Academy of Neurology, 2000-2006
  • International League against Epilepsy. Task Force on Epilepsy Syndromes. The Commission on Classification and Terminology, 2009-2013

Education & Training

  • MD, Niigata University School of Medicine, 1995
  • Internship, Japanese National physician Graduate Medical Education Program, 1995-1996
  • Residency in Pediatrics, Niigata University Hospital, 1996-1997
  • Residency in Pediatrics, Saiseikai General Hospital, 1997-1998
  • Research Fellow in Neurology, Children’s Hospital, Boston, 1999-2000
  • Residency in Child Neurology, Schneider Children’s Hospital, 2000-2003
  • Residency in General Pediatrics, Schneider Children’s Hospital, 2003-2005
  • Clinical Fellow in Neurophysiology, Montefiore Medical Center, 2005-2006
  • Master's Clinical Research Program, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, 2007-2009

Selected Publications

Kirkpatrick L, Harrison E, Borrero S, Miller E, Sogawa Y, Stransky OM, Talabi MB, Urban A, Kazmerski TM. Sexual and reproductive health concerns of women with epilepsy beginning in adolescence and young adulthood. Epilepsy Behav. 2021 Dec;125:108439. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2021.108439. Epub 2021 Nov 25. PMID: 34839241.

Edmonds BD, Welch W, Sogawa Y, Mountz J, Bagić A, Patterson C. The Role of Magnetoencephalography and Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography in Evaluation of Children With Drug-Resistant Epilepsy. J Child Neurol. 2021 Jul;36(8):673-679. doi: 10.1177/0883073821996558. Epub 2021 Mar 5. PMID: 33663250.

Kirkpatrick L, Collins A, Harrison E, Miller E, Patterson C, Sogawa Y, Van Cott AC, Kazmerski TM. Pediatric Neurologists' Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health Care for Adolescent and Young Adult Women With Epilepsy and Intellectual Disability. J Child Neurol. 2021 Oct 17:8830738211041824. doi: 10.1177/08830738211041824. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34657501.

Laura Kirkpatrick, Yoshimi Sogawa, Catalina Cleves.Acute Dystonic Reactions in Children Treated for Headache With Prochlorperazine or Metoclopramide. Pediatric Neurology. 2020 

Laura Kirkpatrick, Amy Collins, Yoshimi Sogawa, Mehret Birru Talabi, Elizabeth Harrison, Traci M. Kazmerski. Sexual and reproductive healthcare for adolescent and young adult women with epilepsy: A qualitative study of pediatric neurologists and epileptologists. Epilepsy & Behavior. Volume 104, ISSN 1525-5050,

Pompa AG, LaRossa P, Beerman LB, Sogawa Y, Rosen J, Arora G. Utility of ECGs in the pediatric emergency department for patients presenting with a seizure. Am J Emerg Med. 2019 Nov 20. pii: S0735-6757(19)30755-7. doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2019.11.016 PubMed PMID: 31836338.

Piard J, Hawkes L, Milh M, Villard L, Borgatti R, Romaniello R, Fradin M, Capri Y, Héron D, Nougues MC, Nava C, Arsene OT, Shears D, Sogawa Y, Johnson D, Firth H, Vasudevan P, Jones G, Nguyen-Morel MA, Busa T, Roubertie A, van den Born M, Brischoux-Boucher E, Koenig M, Mignot C; DDD Study, Kini U, Philippe C. The phenotypic spectrum of WWOX-related disorders: 20 additional cases of WOREE syndrome and review of the literature. Genet Med. 2018 Oct 25. doi: 10.1038/s41436-018-0339-3. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 30356099. 

Welch WP, Sitwat B, Sogawa Y. Use of Vagus Nerve Stimulator on Children With Primary Generalized Epilepsy. J Child Neurol. 2018 Jun;33(7):449-452

Gedela S, Sitwat B, Welch WP, Krafty RT, Sogawa Y. The effect of vagus nerve stimulator in controlling status epilepticus in children. Seizure. 2018 Feb;55:66-69 

von Spiczak S, Helbig KL, Shinde DN, Huether R, Pendziwiat M, Lourenço C, Nunes ME, Sarco DP, Kaplan RA, Dlugos DJ, Kirsch H, Slavotinek A, Cilio MR, Cervenka MC, Cohen JS, McClellan R, Fatemi A, Yuen A, Sogawa Y, Littlejohn R, McLean SD, Hernandez-Hernandez L, Maher B, Møller RS, Palmer E, Lawson JA, Campbell CA, Joshi CN, Kolbe DL, Hollingsworth G, Neubauer BA, Muhle H, Stephani U, Scheffer IE, Pena SDJ, Sisodiya SM, Helbig I; Epi4K Consortium; EuroEPINOMICS-RES NLES Working Group. DNM1 encephalopathy: A new disease of vesicle fission. Neurology. 2017 Jul 25;89(4):385-394. Epub 2017 Jun 30. PubMed PMID: 28667181. 

Nariai H, Beal J, Galanopoulou AS, Mowrey WB, Bickel S, Sogawa Y, Jehle R, Shinnar S, Moshé SL. Scalp EEG Ictal gamma and beta activity during infantile spasms: Evidence of focality. Epilepsia. 2017 Apr 11. doi: 10.1111/epi.13735. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 28397999. 

Keros S, Buraniqi E, Alex B, Antonetty A, Fialho H, Hafeez B, Jackson MC, Jawahar R, Kjelleren S, Stewart E, Morgan LA, Wainwright MS, Sogawa Y, Patel AD, Loddenkemper T, Grinspan ZM. Increasing Ketamine Use for Refractory Status Epilepticus in US Pediatric Hospitals. J Child Neurol. 2017 Jan 1:883073817698629. doi: 10.1177/0883073817698629. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 28349774

Full Publication List via NIH PubMed »

Academic and Research Interests

  • Childhood epilepsy
  • Infantile spasms
  • Epileptic encephalopathy
  • EEG

Research Grants

1U01NS088034-01, Established Status Epilepticus Treatment Trial (ESETT). (PI: Jaideep Kapur), 2015-Present, NINDS/NIH

RFA 67-39, A Study on the Effect of Epidiolex in Children with Intractable Epilepsy. (PI: Eric Marsh), (PI, effort 10%), 2016-Present, Pennsylvania Department of Health