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Clinic at the Royal Children's Hospital

Epilepsy is a disorder which leads to a person having repeated seizures or fits. Only 0.5% of the population have epilepsy whilst 5% of children experience a seizure at some time during childhood due to another cause, such as febrile convulsions. A single seizure is usually not enough to diagnose epilepsy and won't be treated with medication. If your child has repeated seizures, your doctor may prescribe anti-epileptic medication to help prevent further seizures. There are many different medications used for epilepsy and their choice is dependent on type of seizure, frequency of seizure, EEG, age and developmental stage.

The following practitioners at CPMG can be of service in helping investigate and manage epilepsy in children and adolescents:

Daryl is a paediatrician who has worked at the Royal Children’s Hospital for 30 years and currently holds appointments as a general paediatrician in the department of General Medicine at the Royal Children’s Hospital, associate professor in the University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics, and senior research fellow in the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

Daryl is active in research into better ways to treat children with developmental disorders such as autism, ADHD and Tourette syndrome.

Noel is an experienced general paediatrician and clinical pharmacologist. He has a unique background, having worked in general practice for several years before completing his paediatric training. He currently has appointments as a general paediatrician and director of clinical pharmacology in the Department of General Medicine at the Royal Children’s Hospital and as director of the Australian Paediatric Pharmacology Research Unit at Murdoch Children's Research Institute.

Annette is a senior clinical neuropsychologist at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne and research fellow in the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Annette’s clinical interests are in managing children with a range of developmental conditions, from infancy to late childhood.

Her areas of speciality include learning difficulties, craniofacial disorders, ADHD, developmental delay, and genetic conditions.

Dr Emma Macdonald-Laurs is a paediatric neurologist and epileptologist who treats patients with a variety of neurological conditions. She completed her paediatric training in New Zealand going on to do neurology training in Sydney and Melbourne. 

Emma has a particular interest and expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with epilepsy having done fellowships and a PhD in this area. She also enjoys seeing children with developmental delay, genetic neurological conditions, migraines and headache. 

Jeremy is an experienced paediatric neurologist who trained in general paediatrics and neurology at the Royal Children’s Hospital. He completed his training at Northwestern University in Chicago. Jeremy has been a Consultant Neurologist at the Royal Children’s Hospital since 2005 and is an Honorary Fellow in neuroscience research at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

Julian is an experienced paediatrician who currently holds appointments as a general paediatrician in the department of General Medicine at the Royal Children’s Hospital and as a research fellow in the University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics.

His areas of interest include acute general paediatrics, learning and behavioural disorders and lymphoedema.

Julian also has experience in international child health, working as a WHO consultant in the People’s Republic of China and the Solomon Islands.

Michaela trained as a Paediatrician at the Royal Children’s and The Mercy Hospitals in Melbourne.

During her training Michaela specialised in developmental and behavioural paediatrics, but since then she has continued to work both acute and outpatient settings, seeing children of all ages, including babies.

Michaela’s areas of interests include developmental delay, speech delay, failure to thrive and growth concerns, Autism, ADHD, constipation, encopresis and enuresis, behavioural problems, anxiety, eczema, asthma and urinary tract infections.

Suzanne is a general paediatrician who cares for children with a wide range of acute and chronic medical conditions from birth to adolescence. In addition to working in private practice, she has appointments at The Royal Children's Hospital as a General Paediatrician as well as a Medical Consultant in Hospital in the Home.

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