William H. Theodore, M.D.

Theodore Headshot 4.28.21
Senior Investigator
Address
Clinical Epilepsy Section

BG 10 RM 7D43
10 CENTER DR
BETHESDA MD 20814

Dr. Theodore received his B.A. degree from Harvard College and M.D. degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. After a medical internship and residency, and a neurology residency at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, he came to the National Institutes of Health for a fellowship in Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Neurology, and Clinical Neurophysiology. In 1988 he became Chief of the Clinical Epilepsy Section, NINDS. He received the American Epilepsy Society Outstanding Clinical Investigator Award in 1991. Dr. Theodore's section is investigating new therapeutic approaches to uncontrolled epilepsy, and using neuroimaging techniques to study cerebral metabolism, neuropharmacology, and functional cognitive anatomy.

The Epilepsy Research Group seeks to improve treatment of epilepsy by understanding the mechanisms of action of antiepileptic drugs, as well as developing new methods for evaluation and treatment. The two sections, Neuronal Excitability and Clinical Epilepsy, collaborate to study the relationship between drug actions at the cellular and subcellular level and clinical effects, both on seizure control and neuropsychological function.

We  conduct research on the evaluation and treatment of uncontrolled epilepsy, emphasizing non-invasive approaches to localization of epileptic foci,  cognitive mapping and surgical therapy. The techniques employed include video-EEG monitoring, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), positron emission tomography (PET), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including functional MRI and MR spectroscopy. We use multimodality image co-registration, and statistical parametric mapping, as well as other image analysis techniques.


Clinical Protocols
 

  • 18-N-0066: Investigating Epilepsy: Screening and Evaluation

  • 14-N-0061: Noninvasive Pre-surgical Evaluation of Patients with Focal Epilepsy

  • 11-N-0051: Surgery as a Treatment for Medically Intractable Epilepsy

You Z, Zachery AN, Fanto E, Norato G, Germeyan S, Emery EJ, Sepeta LN, Berl MB, Black CL, Wiggs E, Zaghloul K, Inati SK, Gaillard WD, Theodore WH.  fMRI Prediction of Naming Change after Adult Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Surgery: Activation Matters. Epilepsia.. 2019;60:527-538. doi: 10.1111/epi.14656. 

Rolinski R, Austermuehle A, Wiggs E, Agrawal S, Sepeta L, Gaillard WD, Zaghloul K, Inati SK, Theodore WH. Functional MRI and Direct Cortical Stimulation: Prediction of Postoperative Language Decline. Epilepsia. 2019;60:560-570. doi: 10.1111/epi.14666

Dickstein LP, Liow J-S, Austermuehle A, Zoghbi S, Inati SK, Zaghloul K, Zanotti-Fregonara P, Theodore WH. Neuroinflammation in Neocortical Epilepsy Measured by PET imaging of Translocator Protein. Epilepsia 2019 60(6):1248-1254. PMID: 31144767. DOI: 10.1111/epi.15967

Rolinski R, You X, Gonzalez-Castillo J, Norato G, Reynolds RC, Inati SK, Theodore WH. Language lateralization from task-based and resting state functional MRI in patients with epilepsy.  Hum Brain Mapp. 2020 Aug 1;41(11):3133-3146. doi: 10.1002/hbm.25003. Epub 2020 Apr 24.PMID: 32329951

 Akinsoji EO, Leibovitch E, Billioux J, Lopes Abath Neto O, Ray-Chaudhury A, Inati SK, Zaghloul K, Heiss J, Jacobson S, Theodore WH. HHV-6 and Hippocampal  Volume in Patients with Mesial Temporal Sclerosis.  Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. 2020 Sep;7(9):1674-1680.  doi: 10.1002

Theodore WH.  Epilepsy in the Hippocratic Collection: Seizures and Syndromes.  Epilepsy and Behavior 2021 Feb;115:107704.doi: 10.1016/j

Snyder K, Whitehead EP, Theodore WH, Zaghloul KA, Inati SJ, Inati SK. Distinguishing type II focal cortical dysplasias from normal cortex: A novel normative modeling approach.  NeuroImage: Clinical 30 (2021) 102565

Schreiber JM,  Wiggs E, Cuento R,  Norato G, Dustin IH, Rolinski R, Austermuehle A Zhou X, Inati SK, Gibson KM, PPearl PL, Theodore WH. A Randomized Controlled Trial of SGS742, a GABA-B Receptor Antagonist, for SSADH Deficiency. J Child Neurol in press.