Christina Szperka, MD, MSCE
Areas of expertise: Headaches
About Christina Szperka
Christina Szperka, MD, MSCE, has been interested in the treatment of chronic pain since she was an undergraduate at Amherst College, Amherst, MA, and focused on pediatric pain while pursuing her medical degree at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
Dr. Szperka completed residencies in pediatrics and child neurology at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, and a fellowship in headache medicine at The Jefferson Headache Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. She is board certified in Headache Medicine.
Dr. Szperka divides her time between patient care and projects aimed at improving the treatment of children with headaches across CHOP and beyond. In 2013, she was named director of the newly formed Pediatric Headache Program. She has received grants to improve clinical care of and treatment options for headache.
Titles
Attending Physician
Assistant Professor of Neurology in Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Certifications
Child Neurology – American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Headache Medicine – National Headache Foundation
Awards and Honors
2018, America's Most Honored Professionals Top 5%
2018, Philadelphia Magazine, Top Doctors in Child Neurology
2017, Exceptional Women in Medicine
2016-2018, 2022, Philadelphia Magazine's Top Doctors in Child Neurology
2016, Emerging Leaders Program, American Headache Society
2015, Participant, CHOP Clinical Quality Improvement Course
2015-2017, 2022, Main Line Today's Top Doctors in Pediatric Neurology
2014, Participant, International Headache Academy, Scottsdale, AZ
2014, Participant, Women in Leadership Program
2010, Scottsdale Headache Symposium Scholarship Award Recipient, American Headache Society
2001, Magna Cum Laude, Amherst College, Amherst, MA
2001, Frank Fowler Dow Prize for anticipated career of distinction in medicine, Amherst College
Leadership and Memberships
Memberships in Professional Organizations
International
- 2017-present, CGRP Education & Research Forum
- 2017-present, Editorial Advisory Board
National
- 2017-present, National Institutes of Neurological Disorders & Stroke
- 2017-present, Diagnostics and Characteristics Subgroup
- 2017-present, American Registry for Migraine Research
- 2017-present, Scientific Advisory Board
- 2010-present, American Headache Society
- 2018-present, Membership Committee
- 2018-present, Clinical Informatics Section, Chair
- 2017, Fellow
- 2016-present, Clinical Informatics Section
- 2010-present, Pediatrics Section
- 2007-present, Child Neurology Society
- 2014-present, Headache Special Interest Group
- 2007-present, American Academy of Neurology
- 2018-present, Headache Outcome Measures Revision Workgroup
- 2012-present, Headache and Facial Pain Section
- 2012-present, Child Neurology Section
Editorial and Academic Positions
Editorial Positions
2017-present, Peer Reviewer, JAMA Neurology
2013-present, Peer Reviewer, Cephalalgia
2012-present, Peer Reviewer, Pediatric Emergency Care
2011-present, Peer Reviewer, Headache
Academic and Institutional Committees
2011-present, CHOP Neurology Quality & Patient Safety Committee
Education & training
Graduate Degree
MSCE - University of Pennsylvania, Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Philadelphia, PA
Medical Degree
MD - Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
Internship
Pediatrics - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Residency
Pediatrics - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Child Neurology - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Fellowship
Headache - Jefferson Headache Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA
T-32 Fellow - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Additional Training
Mentor Training for Clinical & Behavioral Researchers - University of Pennsylvania/Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Publications
Publications
2018
Chelsea M. Hesterman, Christina L. Szperka (co-first authors), Dana P. Turner: Reasons for Manuscript Rejection After Peer Review From the Journal Headache. Headache. 2018 Jul 16. doi: 10.1111/head.13343. [Epub ahead of print]
Beres SJ, Sheldon CA, Boisvert CJ, Szperka CL, Paley GL, Burrows EK, Chilutti MR, Liu GW, McCormack SE, Liu GT. Clinical and Prognostic Significance of Cerebrospinal Fluid Opening and Closing Pressures in Pediatric Pseudotumor Cerebri Syndrome. Pediatr Neurol. 2018 Jun;83:50-55. doi: 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2018.02.011. Epub 2018 Mar 30.
Patterson-Gentile C, Szperka CL. The Changing Landscape of Pediatric Migraine Therapy: A Review. JAMA Neurol. 2018 Mar 12. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2018.0046. [Epub ahead of print]
Patel AD, Berg AT, Billinghurst L, Fain D, Fecske E, Feyma T, Grinspan Z, Houtrow A, Kothare S, Kumar G, Lee E, Monduy M, Morita D, Szperka CL, Victorio MC, Yeh A, Buchhalter JR. Quality improvement in neurology: Child neurology quality measure set: Executive summary. Neurology. 2018 Jan 9;90(2):67-73. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000004806. Epub 2017 Dec 15. No abstract available.
2016
Szperka CL, Gelfand AA, Hershey AD. Patterns of Use of Peripheral Nerve Blocks and Trigger Point Injections for Pediatric Headache: Results of a Survey of the American Headache Society Pediatric and Adolescent Section. Headache. 2016 Nov;56(10):1597-1607. doi: 10.1111/head.12939. Epub 2016 Oct 12.
2014
Carrie O. Dougherty, Michael J. Marmura, Zuhal Ergonul, Larry Charleston, and Christina L. Szperka: Emergency and Inpatient Treatment of Migraine: An American Headache Society Survey. British Journal of Medicine & Medical Research 4(20): 3800-3813, 2014.
2009
Florance NR, Davis RL, Lam C, Szperka C, Zhou L, Ahmad S, Campen CJ, Moss H, Peter N, Gleichman AJ, Glaser CA, Lynch DR, Rosenfeld MR, Dalmau J: Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis in children and adolescents. Annals of Neurology 66(1): 11-8, Jul 2009.
Abstracts (includes Posters and Scientific Presentations)
2018
Sara Fridinger, MD & Christina Szperka, MD, MSCE: Intravenous Dihydroergotamine Associated Chest Pain in Pediatric Headache Patients. 47th Annual Meeting of the Child Neurology Society, Chicago, IL October 2018. Presented: October 15-18, 2018.
Sara Fridinger, MD & Christina Szperka, MD, MSCE: Effectiveness of Intravenous Dihydroergotamine for Pediatric Headache: Does Headache Diagnosis Matter? American Academy of Neurology 70th Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA. April 2018 Notes: Presented April 25th, 2018
Sara Fridinger, MD & Christina Szperka, MD, MSCE: The cardiovascular impact of intravenous dihydroergotamine for pediatric headache patients American Academy of Neurology 70th Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA. April 2018 Notes: Presented April 24, 2018.
AA Kohli, A Vossough, RM Mallery, J Woo, GL Paley, CA Sheldon, GT Liu, CL Szperka: The Persistence of MRI Findings in Pediatric Pseudotumor Cerebri Syndrome. North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society 44th Annual Meeting (poster), Hawaii, The Big Island March 2018 Notes: Presented March 6, 2018.
2017
Szperka, Christina L & Rondinelli, Monica J: Intranasal Dihydroergotamine for Headache Exacerbations in Children and Adolescents. American Headache Society 59th Annual Scientific Meeting, Boston, MA. Poster Presentation June 2017.
Lectures by Invitation
2019
"Procedure Workshop" American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. May 2019.
2018
Szperka C. "Procedure Workshop" at American Headache Society Scottsdale Headache Symposium, Scottsdale, AZ. Nov 2018.
Szperka C. "Procedure Workshop" at American Headache Society Scottsdale Headache Symposium, Scottsdale, AZ. Oct 2018.
Szperka C. "Procedures in Special Populations (Pediatrics, Pregnancy, Geriatrics) with Cases" as part of the Course: A Practical Approach to Procedures in Headache Medicine: A Review of Current Evidence and Cases in Clinical Practice. American Headache Society 60th Annual Scientific Meeting, San Francisco, CA. Jun, 2018.
2017
Szperka C. "Diagnosis & ED/Inpatient treatment of Headaches" Virtua-Voorhees Hospital - Pediatric Grand Rounds. Nov, 2017.
Szperka C. "Painful Neurology - Headache Cases" Advances in Stroke and Foundations of Neurologic Practice 2017 (CME course), Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Nov, 2017.
Szperka C. "Leveraging the Electronic Medical Record for Headache Diagnosis and Treatment of Pediatric/Adolescent Patients". Clinical Informatics Pre-Meeting Course, Scottsdale Headache Symposium. Nov, 2017.
Szperka C. "Pediatric Headache" Interview for PBS Documentary. Jun, 2017.
Szperka C. "Pediatric Patient and Parent Goals and Preferences for Preventive Headache Treatment," Platform Presentation, American Headache Society 59th Annual Scientific Meeting, Boston, MA. Jun, 2017.
Szperka C. "Update on Pediatric & Adolescent Headache". American Academy of Neurology. Breakthroughs in Neurology Conference, Phoenix, AZ. Jan, 2017.
Editorials, Reviews, Chapters
2016
Sheldon CA, Lin GL, Szperka CL, McCormack SE, Liu GT. : Pediatric pseudotumor cerebri syndrome. Practical management of pediatric ocular disorders and strabismus. Traboulsi EI, Utz V, Ariss M, eds. (eds.). Springer Science 2016.
2015
Szperka CL & Smith D: Chapter 16: What are the most common types of headache in children? Curbside Consultation in Pediatric Neurology: 49 Clinical Questions Daniel Licht & Nicole Ryan (eds.). Slack Incorporated, July 2015.
Szperka CL & Robbins E: Chapter 19: Are there ways to prevent migraines? What lifestyle factors contribute to headaches? Curbside Consultation in Pediatric Neurology: 49 Clinical Questions Daniel Licht & Nicole Ryan (eds.). Slack Incorporated, July 2015.
2012
Szperka CL and Narula S: Headache. Pediatric Neurocritical Care. NS Abend and MA Helfaer (eds.). Demos Medical, November 2012.
2011
Szperka CL: Headache. Netter Pediatrics. Florin TA and Ludwig S (eds.). Elsevier Saunders, Page: 471-478, 2011.