Mark P. Fitzgerald, MD, PhD
Areas of expertise: Neonatal and early life epilepsies, Genetic epilepsy
About Mark P. Fitzgerald, MD, PhD
Mark P. Fitzgerald, MD, PhD, is an attending pediatric neurologist in the Division of Neurology and the Medical Director of the Epilepsy Neurogenetics Initiative (ENGIN) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He has a special interest in treating infants and very young children with epilepsy.
Dr. Fitzgerald’s philosophy of care is centered on listening closely to families’ needs and concerns, and providing the information and resources to help them make the best decisions for their child.
“I want every family to be able to leave a visit with me and feel like each one of their concerns was heard, and they had all of their questions completely answered,” Dr. Fitzgerald says. “Children with neurological concerns can be complex and challenging, which is why it is extremely important for caregivers to understand their child's condition, treatment options and what possible outcomes to expect.”
Along with his work at CHOP, Dr. Fitzgerald is a Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
His research focuses on neurodevelopmental and epilepsy outcomes in children who experienced a lack of oxygen to the brain as newborns. He also studies responses to treatments in a variety of genetic epilepsies.
Dr. Fitzgerald is particularly excited about promising new ways of diagnosing and customizing treatment for children with epilepsy that is difficult to control.
“It is the start of an exciting time in epilepsy, as our evolving knowledge is beginning to lead to precision therapies for certain genetic epilepsies,” Dr. Fitzgerald says.
Titles
Attending Physician
Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Certifications
Child Neurology – American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Neurology – American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Awards and Honors
- 2009, Eric W. Lothman Award for Outstanding Scholarly Achievement in Neuroscience, University of Virginia
- 2002, Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities
- 2002, Lawrence J. Lennon Award for Outstanding Service and Achievement in Psychology, University of Scranton
- 2002, Excellence in Psychology Award, University of Scranton
- 2002, Excellence in Neuroscience Award, University of Scranton
Leadership and Memberships
Memberships in Professional Organizations
2015-present, American Epilepsy Society
2013-present, American Academy of Neurology
Editorial and Academic Positions
Editorial Positions
2019-present, Reviewer, Neuropediatrics
2018-present, Reviewer, Journal of Pediatric Neurology
Academic and Institutional Committees
2015-present, ICU Neurology Advisory Committee, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Education & training
Graduate Degree
PhD in Neuroscience - University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Medical Degree
MD - University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Residency
Child Neurology - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA (Chief Resident)
Pediatrics - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Fellowship
Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology - Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Publications
Publications
2023
Sara E. Molisani, Darshana Parikh, Marissa DiGiovine, Dennis Dlugos, Mark P. Fitzgerald, Lawrence Fried, Ingo Helbig, Sudha Kilaru Kessler, Pamela Pojomovsky McDonnell, Susan Melamed, Marisa S. Prelack, Uzma Sharif, Sarah Tefft, Jaclyn Tencer, Stephanie Witzman, Kathy Shaw, Nicholas S. Abend : A quality improvement initiative to improve folic acid supplementation counseling for adolescent females with epilepsy. Epilepsia Page: https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.17723, July 2023.
Burglen L, Van Hoeymissen E, Qebibo L, Barth M, Belnap N, Boschann F, Depienne C, De Clercq K, Douglas A, Fitzgerald MP, Foulds N, Garel C, Helbig I, Held K, Horn D, Janssen A, Kaindl A, Narayanan V, Prager C, Rupin M, Afenjar A, Zhao S, Ramaekers V, Ruggiero S, Thomas S, Valence S, Van Maldergem L, Rohacs T, Rodriguez D, Dyment D, Voets TVriens J: Gain-of-function variants in the ion channel gene TRPM3 underlie a spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders. eLife 12: e81032, Jan 2023.
2022
Kaufman MC, Xian J, Galer PD, Parthasarathy S, Gonzalez AK, Helbig K, McKeown S, Prelack MS, Fitzgerald MP, Craig S, Rametta SC, Fridinger SE, Sharif U, Melamed SE, DiGiovine M, Fried L, Malcolm MP, Kessler SK, Chadehumbe M, Szperka CL, Chuo J, Caffe L, Stephenson DJ, Banwell BL, Goldberg E, Abend NS, and Helbig I.: Child neurology telemedicine: analyzing 14,820 encounters during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology DOI: 10.1111/dmcn.15406 2022.
Jillian L. McKee, Michael C. Kaufman, Alexander K. Gonzalez, Mark P. Fitzgerald, Shavonne L. Massey, France Fung, Sudha K. Kessler, Stephanie Witzman, Nicholas S. Abend, Ingo Helbig: Seizure prediction in 1117 neonates leveraging EMR-embedded standardized EEG reporting. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.03.22275975 2022.
2021
France W Fung, Darshana S Parikh, Shavonne L Massey, Mark P Fitzgerald, Lisa Vala, Maureen Donnelly, Marin Jacobwitz, Sudha K Kessler, Alexis A Topjian, Nicholas S Abend: Periodic and rhythmic patterns in critically ill children: Incidence, interrater agreement, and seizures. Epilepsia 62(12): 2955-2967, Dec 2021.
Katrine M Johannesen, Yuanyuan Liu, Mahmoud Koko, Cathrine E Gjerulfsen, Lukas Sonnenberg, Julian Schubert, Christina D Fenger, Ahmed Eltokhi, Maert Rannap, Nils A Koch, Stephan Lauxmann, Johanna Krüger, Josua Kegele, Laura Canafoglia, Silvana Franceschetti, Thomas Mayer, Johannes Rebstock, Pia Zacher, Susanne Ruf, Michael Alber, Katalin Sterbova, Petra Lassuthová, Marketa Vlckova, Johannes R Lemke, Konrad Platzer, Ilona Krey, Constanze Heine, Dagmar Wieczorek, Judith Kroell-Seger, Caroline Lund, Karl Martin Klein, P Y Billie Au, Jong M Rho, Alice W Ho, Silvia Masnada, Pierangelo Veggiotti, Lucio Giordano, Patrizia Accorsi, Christina E Hoei-Hansen, Pasquale Striano, Federico Zara, Helene Verhelst, Judith S Verhoeven, Bert van der Zwaag, Aster V E Harder, Eva Brilstra, Manuela Pendziwiat, Sebastian Lebon, Maria Vaccarezza, Ngoc Minh Le, Jakob Christensen, Sabine Grønborg, Stephen W Scherer, Jennifer Howe, Walid Fazeli, Katherine B Howell, Richard Leventer, Chloe Stutterd, Sonja Walsh, Marion Gerard, Bénédicte Gerard, Sara Matricardi, Claudia M Bonardi, Stefano Sartori, Andrea Berger, Dorota Hoffman-Zacharska, Massimo Mastrangelo, Francesca Darra, Arve Vøllo, M Mahdi Motazacker, Phillis Lakeman, Mathilde Nizon, Cornelia Betzler, Cecilia Altuzarra, Roseline Caume, Agathe Roubertie, Philippe Gélisse, Carla Marini, Renzo Guerrini, Frederic Bilan, Daniel Tibussek, Margarete Koch-Hogrebe, M Scott Perry, Shoji Ichikawa, Elena Dadali, Artem Sharkov, Irina Mishina, Mikhail Abramov, Ilya Kanivets, Sergey Korostelev, Sergey Kutsev, Karen E Wain, Nancy Eisenhauer, Monisa Wagner, Juliann M Savatt, Karen Müller-Schlüter, Haim Bassan, Artem Borovikov, Marie-Cecile Nassogne, Anne Destrée, An-Sofie Schoonjans, Marije Meuwissen, Marga Buzatu, Anna Jansen, Emmanuel Scalais, Siddharth Srivastava, Wen-Hann Tan, Heather E Olson, Tobias Loddenkemper, Annapurna Poduri, Katherine L Helbig, Ingo Helbig, Mark P Fitzgerald, Ethan M Goldberg, Timo Roser, Ingo Borggraefe, Tobias Brünger, Patrick May, Dennis Lal, Damien Lederer, Guido Rubboli, Henrike O Heyne, Gaetan Lesca, Ulrike B S Hedrich, Jan Benda, Elena Gardella, Holger Lerche, Rikke S Møller: Genotype-phenotype correlations in SCN8A-related disorders reveal prognostic and therapeutic implications. Brain Page: doi: 10.1093/brain/awab321, Aug 25 2021.
Fitzgerald MP, Kaufman MC, Massey SL, Fridinger S, Prelack M, Ellis C, Ortiz-Gonzalez X, Fried LE, DiGiovine MP, CHOP Pediatric Epilepsy Program Collaborative, Melamed S, Malcolm M, Banwell B, Stephenson D, Witzman SM, Gonzalez A, Dlugos D, Kessler SK, Goldberg EM, Abend NS, Helbig I.: Assessing seizure burden in pediatric epilepsy using an electronic medical record-based tool through a common data element approach. Epilepsia 62(7): 1617-1628, Jul 2021.
Bonardi CM, Heyne HO, Fiannacca M, Fitzgerald MP, Gardella E, Gunning B, Olofsson K, Lesca G, Verbeek N, Stamberger H, Striano P, Zara F, Mancardi MM, Nava C, Syrbe S, Buono S, Baulac S, Coppola A, Weckhuysen S, Schoonjans AS, Ceulemans B, Sarret C, Baumgartner T, Muhle H, des Portes V, Toulouse J, Nougues MC, Rossi M, Demarquay G, Ville D, Hirsch E, Maurey H, Willems M, de Bellescize, J, Altuzarra CD, Villeneuve N, Bartolomei F, Picard F, Hornemann F, Koolen DA, Kroes HY, Reale C, Fenger CD, Tann WH, Dibbens L, Bearden DR, Moller RS, and Rubboli G.: KCNT1-related epilepsies and epileptic encephalopathies: phenotypic and mutational spectrum. Brain Page: doi: 10.1093/brain/awab219, Jun 11 2021.
Grinspan ZM, Patel AD, Shellhaas RA, Berg AT, Axeen ET, Bolton J, Clarke D, Coryell J, Gaillard WD, Goodkin HP, Koh S, Kukla A, Mbwana J, Morgan LA, Singhal NS, Storey MM, Yozawitz EG, Abend NS, Fitzgerald MP, Fridinger SE, Helbig I, Massey SL, Prelack MS, Buchhalter J.: Design and Implementation of Electronic Health Record Common Data Elements for Pediatric Epilepsy: Foundations for a Learning Healthcare System. Epilepsia 62(1): 198-216, Jan 2021.
2020
Witzman S, Massey SL, Kessler S, Gonzalez-Giraldo E, Fridinger SE, Worden L, Lewin N, Dlugos D, Melamed S, Fitzgerald M, Fung FW, Ferruzi M, McNamee N, LaFalce D, Donnelly M, Haywood A, Allen-Napoli L, Banwell B, Abend NS. : Acceptability of Standardized EEG Reporting in an Electronic Health Record. J Clin Neurophysiol 37(5): 455-461, September 2020. PMCID: 7186141
Grosenbaugh DK, Joshi S, Fitzgerald MP, Lee KS, Wagley PK, Koeppel AF, Turner SD, McConnell MJ, Goodkin HP: A deletion in Eml1 leads to bilateral subcortical heterotopia in the tish rat. Neurobiology of Disease 140(104836), July 2020. PMCID: 7814471
Rametta SC, Fridinger SE, Gonzalez AK, Xian J, Galer PD, Kaufman M, Prelack MS, Sharif U, Fitzgerald MP, Melamed SE, Malcolm MP, Kessler SK, Stephenson DJ, Banwell BL, Abend NS, and Helbig I. : Analyzing 2589 child neurology telehealth encounters necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Neurology 95(9): e1257-e1266, June 2020. PMCID: 7538222
Fitzgerald MP, Massey SL, Fung FW, Puopolo KM, Posencheg M, Allen-Napoli L, Malcolm M, Abend NS: Expanding Access to Continuous EEG Monitoring in Neonatal Intensive Care Units. J Clin Neurophysiol. 9: doi: 10.1097/WNP.0000000000000730, June 2020.
Fitzgerald MP*, Tan TY*, Sedmik J*, Halevy RS, Keegan LP, Helbig I, Basel-Salmon L, Cohen L, Straussberg R, Chung WK, Helal M, Maroofian R, Houlden H, Juusola J, Sadedin S, Pais L, Howell KB, White SM, Christodoulou J, O'Connell MA.: Bilallelic ADARB1 variants associated with microcephaly, intellectual disability, and seizures. American Journal of Human Genetics 106(4): 467-483, April 2020. PMCID: 7118584
2019
Fitzgerald MP, Donnelly M, Vala L, Allen-Napoli L, and Abend NS. (2019). Collodion remover can degrade plastic-containing medical devices commonly used in the intensive care unit. The Neurodiagnostic Journal. 59(3):163-168.
Fitzgerald MP, Fiannacca M, Smith DM, Gertler TS, Gunning B, Syrbe S, Verbeek N, Stamberger S, Weckhuysen S, Ceulemans B, Schoonjans AS, Rossi M, Demarquay G, Lesca G, Olofsson K, Koolen DA, Hornemann F, Baulac S, Rubboli G, Minks KQ, Lee B, Helbig I, Dlugos D, Møller RS, Bearden D (2019). Treatment responsiveness in KCNT1-related epilepsy. Neurotherapeutics. 16(3): 848-857.
2018
Fitzgerald MP, Massey SL, Fung FW, Kessler SK, and Abend NS. (2018) High electroencephalographic seizure exposure is associated with unfavorable outcomes in neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Seizure. 61: 221-6.
Gardella E, Marini C, Trivisano M, Fitzgerald MP, Alber M, Siliquini S, Howell KB, Darra F, Bolsterli B, Masnada S, Pichiecchio A, Johannesen K, Jepsen BS, Elena F, Anibaldi G, Russo S, Cogliati F, Montomoli M, Rubboli G, Specchio N, Veggiotti P, Benikzky S, Wolff M, Helbig I, Vigevano F, Scheffer IE, Guerrini R, and Moller RS. (2018). The phenotype of SCN8A developmental and epileptic encephalopathy. Neurology. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000006199
Abend NS, Wiebe DJ, Xiao R, Massey SL, Fitzgerald MP, Fung F, and Topjian AA (2018). EEG factors after pediatric cardiac arrest. J Clin Neurophysiol. 35: 251–255.
2017
Fitzgerald MP, Kessler SK, and Abend NS. Early discontinuation of anti-seizure medications in neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Epilepsia. 2017 Jun;58(6):1047-1053. doi: 10.1111/epi.13745. Epub 2017 Apr 12.
Fitzgerald MP and Ryan N. An updated, evidence-based clinician’s guide to the evaluation and treatment of West syndrome. Curr Pediatr Rep. DOI: 10.1007/s40124-017-0123-x.
2015
Sharma S, Lerman M, Fitzgerald MP, and Ruebner R. Acute psychosis presenting in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus: Questions & Answers. Pediatr Nephrol. 2016 Feb;31(2):227-31. doi: 10.1007/s00467-015-3052-3. Epub 2015 Jan 30.
2011
Fitzgerald MP, Covio M, and Lee KS. (2011). Disturbances in the positioning, proliferation, and apoptosis of neural progenitors contribute to subcortical band heterotopia formation. Neuroscience. 2011 Mar 10;176:455-71. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2010.12.003. Epub 2010 Dec 9.
2004
Hogan TP, Wyckoff LA, Krebs P, Jones W, Fitzgerald MP. (2004). Tolerance for error and computational estimation ability. Psychol Rep. 94(3 Pt2): 1393-1403.
Lectures by Invitation
2023
Fitzgerald MP. "Specific gene mutation screening in children; who are we finding and who are we missing?" Mid-Atlantic Epilepsy Series Lecture, Virtual. Jan 2023.
2022
Fitzgerald MP. "Specific gene mutation screening in infants; who are we finding and who are we missing?", Epilepsy Foundation Pipeline Conference, California. Jan 2022.
2021
Fitzgerald MP. "Precision Medicine Opportunities in Genetic Epilepsy". Genetics Grand Rounds, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Jan 2021.
Books
2009
Trotter SA, Fitzgerald MP, Lee KS. The tish rat: an animal model of cortical malformation in the study of epilepsy. In: Schwartzkroin PA, editor. Encyclopedia of Basic Epilepsy Research. Oxford: Elsevier; 2009.
Calisaneller T, Lin C-L, Ukita N, Yoshimura R, Wang Y, Fitzgerald MP, and Lee KS. A blood injection model of subarachnoid hemorrhage in the mouse. In: Chen J, Xu X, Xu ZC, Zhang J, editors. Animal Models of Acute Neurological Injuries. New Jersey: Humana Press; 2009.