Shafali Spurling Jeste, MD

Chief, Division of Neurology

Co-Director, Neurological Institute

Las Madrinas Chair, Chief of Neurology

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine of USC

Shafali Spurling Jeste, MD joined Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in 2021 as Chief of the Division of Neurology. In this role, she oversees clinical care delivery and quality, strategic planning, recruitment and program development.

A Board-certified pediatric neurologist, Dr. Jeste focuses on developing methods to improve precision in the diagnosis and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders. She is a prolific researcher whose lab has defined early predictors of autism in at-risk infants, and she has authored and contributed to more than 200 journal papers, editorials, chapters and abstracts. In 2019, she was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for her research in early predictors and intervention for genetic neurodevelopmental disorders.

Dr. Jeste holds several national and international leadership positions including the Board of Directors of the American Brain Foundation, Board of Directors of the National Organization for Rare Disorders and the Board of Directors of the International Society for Autism Research. She also is Co-Founder of ACEing Autism, a national nonprofit that uses tennis to help children with autism connect, grow and develop.

Dr. Jeste earned her bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Yale University before obtaining her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. She completed an internship, residency and a fellowship in behavioral child neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Research Lab

KiNDD Lab
Kids with Neurogenetic and Developmental Disabilities (KiNDD) Lab

Education

Medical School

Harvard Medical School

Internship

Boston Children’s Hospital, Behavioral Child Neurology

Residency

Boston Children’s Hospital, Behavioral Child Neurology

Fellowship

Boston Children’s Hospital, Behavioral Child Neurology

Accomplishments

Professional Memberships

Board of Directors, American Brain Foundation
Board of Directors, National Organization for Rare Disorders
Board of Directors, International Society for Autism Research

Research Studies

JASPER Early Intervention for Tuberous Sclerosis (JETS)

Two main purposes of the study: (1) to see if social communication of children with TSC can be improved with a short term behavioral intervention (JASPER) and (2) to see if these improvements remain long after the study, and whether they can be observed with electroencephalography (EEG).

ABC-CT (Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials)

To see if eye tracking (ET) or electroencephalogram (EEG) assessments have potential use in future clinical trials of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).