Charles Marcuccilli MD, PhD

Dr. Charles Marcuccilli, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, is currently the Division Chief of Pediatric Neurology and Director of Pediatric Epilepsy at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to that, he was the Director of Epilepsy Research in the Department of Neurology at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee during which he helped to develop a pharmacogenomics testing program at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. Dr. Marcuccilli is an active clinician specializing in the medical and surgical treatment of pediatric patients with medically refractory epilepsy, as well as a researcher. His many peer-reviewed publications include an often-cited study on regulatory differences in the expression of heat shock proteins in the central nervous system, which has led to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying selective neuronal vulnerability. One of only a handful of laboratories around the world capable of performing electrophysiological analyses on resected brain tissue obtained from pediatric patients, Dr. Marcuccilli and colleagues were the first team in 50 years to identify intrinsically bursting neurons in humans. These specialized brain cells are believed to play a role in seizure initiation. Dr. Marcuccilli has severed on several advisory boards and is currently listed as one of Chicago’s Top Doctors for Pediatric Neurology/Epilepsy.