About

Biography

My parents inspired me to find a vocation that involved helping others. My fascination with the function of the human brain emerged in college, where I majored in philosophy. As a pediatric neurologist, I treat children and adolescents with movement disorders, including Tourette syndrome.

In my practice, I try to understand how neurological conditions and symptoms affect the child's life and function. With my work, I continually add to the field of neuroscience and find ways to apply new discoveries to improve children's quality of life.

Our team is pursuing multiple lines of research. We use transcranial magnetic stimulation to develop biomarkers of behavioral disorders and understand how the brain controls movement in healthy children and children affected by Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, and Neurofibromatosis. We hope to modulate the brain to improve symptoms. We participate in larger networks of researchers to identify new genes and do clinical trials of new medications.

In my free time, I’m an avid reader, and I also like to exercise and travel.

BA: Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 1987.

MD: University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, 1993.

MS: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 2003.

Pediatrics, Child Neurology Residency: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 1998.

Certification: Board Certified in Neurology with Special Competence in Child Neurology, 2010; Board eligible in Pediatrics.

Appointment: Professor of Pediatric Neurology.

Interests

Movement disorders; Tourette syndrome; ataxia; dystonia; functional movement disorders; chorea; neurogenetics; ADHD

Interests

Clinical trials in Tourette syndrome and ataxia; genetics of Tourette syndrome; transcranial magnetic stimulation for neuromodulation and development of biomarkers of neurobehavioral symptoms for Tourette syndrome; ADHD; neurofibromatosis

Research Areas

Additional Languages

French, Spanish

Insurance Information

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Publications

Reliability of short interval cortical inhibition in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Gilbert, DL; Huddleston, DA; Migneault, KY; Crocetti, D; Horn, PS; Wu, SW; Mostofsky, SH. Clinical Neurophysiology. 2025; 175:2110750.

Frontal cortex hyperactivation and gamma desynchrony in Fragile X syndrome: Correlates of auditory hypersensitivity. Pedapati, EV; Ethridge, LE; Liu, Y; Liu, R; Sweeney, JA; DeStefano, LA; Miyakoshi, M; Razak, K; Schmitt, LM; Moore, DR; Dominick, KC; Horn, PS; Binder, D; Erickson, CA. PloS one. 2025; 20:e0306157.

Probing the Neurodynamic Mechanisms of Cognitive Flexibility in Depressed Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Elmaghraby, R; Blank, E; Miyakoshi, M; Gilbert, DL; Wu, SW; Larsh, T; Westerkamp, G; Liu, Y; Horn, PS; Erickson, CA; Pedapati, EV. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. 2025; 35:231-243.

Changes in Metabolic Parameters and Determination of Minimal Clinically Important Difference in YGTSS-TTS Using Data From the Randomized Phase 2b and Open-Label Extension Studies of Ecopipam For Tourette Syndrome (P11-6.002). McGuire, JF; Karkanias, GB; Bittman, RB; Atkinson, SD; Messner, GD; Munschauer, FE; Wanaski, SP; Cunniff, TM; Gilbert, DL. Neurology. 2025; 104.

Genome-Wide Association Study Meta-Analysis of 9619 Cases With Tic Disorders. Strom, NI; Halvorsen, MW; Grove, J; Ásbjörnsdóttir, B; Luðvígsson, P; Thorarensen, Ó; de Schipper, E; Bäckmann, J; Andrén, P; Tian, C; Elson, SL; Fontanillas, P; Furlotte, NA; Hicks, B. Biological Psychiatry. 2025; 97:743-752.

The Spastic Paraplegia-Centers of Excellence Research Network (SP-CERN): Clinical Trial Readiness for Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia. Schierbaum, L; Quiroz, V; Yang, K; Rong, J; Battaglia, N; Zubair, U; Christie, M; Davis, M; Calame, D; Danzi, MC; Fink, JK; Shy, ME; Zuchner, S; Ebrahimi-Fakhari, D. Neurology: Genetics. 2025; 11:e200249.

In children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder, less task‐related up‐modulation of motor cortex during response inhibition. Gilbert, DL; Crocetti, D; Horn, PS; Wu, SW; Huddleston, DA; Ehrman, JM; Migneault, KY; Mostofsky, SH. 2025; 3:26-36.

Accelerated Theta Burst Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Refractory Depression in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Blank, E; Gilbert, DL; Wu, SW; Larsh, T; Elmaghraby, R; Liu, R; Smith, E; Westerkamp, G; Liu, Y; Horn, PS; Greenstein, E; Sweeney, JA; Erickson, CA; Pedapati, EV. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2025; 55:940-954.

O14: Administration of eladocagene exuparvovec using the SmartFlow magnetic resonance-compatible ventricular cannula in pediatric patients with aromatic ʟ-amino acid decarboxylase deficiency. Krolick, A; Hwu, P; Gilbert, D; Ben-Zeev, B; Curry, D; Stone, S; Vestal, M; Werner, C; Penematsa, V; Wang, A; Rahman, R; Golden, L; Pearl, P. Genetics in Medicine Open. 2025; 3:102090.

Deep brain stimulation modulates pallidal and cortical aperiodic activity during a motor task in children and young adults with dystonia. Larsh, T; Gilbert, D; Wu, S. Brain Stimulation. 2025; 18:520.

From the Blog

The Joy of Witnessing Science Transform a Life
Rare Diseases

The Joy of Witnessing Science Transform a Life

Donald L. Gilbert, MD, MS, Sudhakar Vadivelu, DO11/15/2024

Podcast | Understanding Tics and Tic Disorders
Podcast The Young & Healthy Podcast

Podcast | Understanding Tics and Tic Disorders

Donald L. Gilbert, MD, MS, Young & Healthy Podcast4/12/2024

Ecopipam Reduces Tics in Tourette Syndrome in Early Tests
Mind Brain Behavior

Ecopipam Reduces Tics in Tourette Syndrome in Early Tests

Donald L. Gilbert, MD, MS3/30/2022

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