Dr. Edwin Trevathan
Dr. Edwin Trevathan, MD, MPH, serves as the Director of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The NCBDDD improves the lives of people with congenital and genetic disorders, disabilities, neurodevelopmental disorders, and blood disorders.
The NCBDDD’s work includes indentifying the causes of and preventing birth defects, such as brain and spinal cord malformations (e.g., spina bifida) and congenital heart disease – both major causes of lifelong morbidity and infant mortality. The NCBDDD also performs monitoring of rates of neurodevelopmental disabilities such as autism and cerebral palsy, and performs public health research aimed at identifying preventable risk factors for developing these and other disabilities. NCBDDD, with its partners throughout the US, promotes the health and well-being among people of all ages with disabilities. NCBDDD’s Division of Blood Disorders prevents complications of bleeding and clotting disorders, and works to improve the lives of people with hereditary blood disorders.
Prior to returning to CDC Dr. Trevathan was Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics and Director of the Division of Pediatric and Developmental Neurology at Washington University in St. Louis. He also served as the Neurologist-in-Chief at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Trevathan received his MD and MPH at Emory University and completed his residency training at Yale University in pediatrics, and at Massachusetts General Hospital in neurology and child neurology. He was an epilepsy and neurophysiology fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Trevathan worked at CDC from 1987 to 1989 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer in birth defects and developmental disabilities.
Dr. Trevathan has conducted epidemiologic studies of childhood epilepsy and developmental disabilities, has directed multi-center clinical trials, and has published in clinical pediatric neurology, epilepsy, and neurodevelopmental disabilities. He serves on the Editorial Boards of Neurology and the Disability and Health Journal. He is a regular reviewer for several other journals including Pediatrics and The Lancet, and has lectured nationally and internationally. His is currently Counselor for the Professors of Child Neurology, and serves on numerous national committees related to child health, neurological and developmental disorders, and public health. He is board-certified in pediatrics, neurology with special qualification in child neurology, and in clinical neurophysiology. His academic appointments include Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, and Adjunct Professor of Neurology at Washington University in St. Louis.
