Renée Shellhaas, MD, the David T. Blasingame Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been awarded the Child Neurology Society’s (CNS) 2024 Hower Award. The organization’s highest honor, the award is given annually to a pediatric neurologist recognized as an outstanding teacher and scholar, and for making significant contributions to the CNS.
Shellhaas treats children with epilepsy, a brain disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. Her research, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, among others, has advanced approaches to newborn brain monitoring, diagnosis and treatment of neonatal seizures.
(Photo: WashU School of Medicine)
Shellhaas helped create the multicenter Neonatal Seizure Registry to better understand the causes and long-term consequences of seizures in neonates. A leader in studies of infant sleep, her work has shed light on the influence of sleep patterns and sleep-disordered breathing on neurodevelopment in at-risk newborns. She also has served as a key leader and collaborator for the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Consortium.
Shellhaas has served CNS in multiple roles: as a regional councilor to the board of directors and as a member of the scientific selection and program planning committee, the research committee, and the leadership, diversity, equity and inclusion committee. Since 2016, she has co-chaired the organization’s annual John M. “Jack” Pellock Resident Seminar on Epilepsy for residents in their final year of child neurology or neurodevelopment disorders training.
Shellhaas is also the associate dean for faculty promotions and career development at the School of Medicine.