Beth Rosen Sheidley is a licensed genetic counselor with over 25 years of experience in clinical genetic counseling, research and teaching. Her areas of expertise include epilepsy, autism, psychiatric illness and both prenatal and pediatric genetic counseling.  As Co-Director of the Epilepsy Genetics Program, Beth is involved in all aspects of program planning and development.

Beth provides genetic counseling to families seen in our Epilepsy Genetics Clinical Consultation Program, supervises the genetic counseling and clinic/clinical research staff, oversees the implementation of our research efforts, and coordinates our involvement in several collaborative research projects. She is a founding member and Co-Chair of EpiGC, an international network of genetic counselors who specialize in epilepsy genetics and who are dedicated to the education of both providers and families.  Beth also serves on the Epilepsy Foundation’s Professional Advisory Board, and is the Co-Editor of genetics content for the Epilepsy Foundation’s website, https://www.epilepsy.com.​

Beth received her BS degree from Cornell University in 1990 and her MS in Genetic Counseling from Brandeis University in 1994.  She joined the Department of Neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital in 2010.  In addition to her role in the Epilepsy Genetics Program, Beth is a member of the Advisory Board for the Brandeis University Genetic Counseling Graduate Program, where she served as Professor of the Practice/Co-Director of Research and Professional Development from 2005 through June of 2014.

Dr. Olson is a neurologist and epileptologist at Boston Children’s Hospital with board certification in neurology and special qualification in child neurology.  She has fellowship training in epilepsy and clinical neurophysiology, as well as in neurogenetics, with a focus on epilepsy genetics.  She also has experience and interest in neonatal neurology.  She is an attending physician in the Epilepsy Genetics Program, through which she sees patients for consultations and management of epilepsy.  She sees additional patients for consultation as part of the Brain Development and Genetics Program, and she is an attending physician in the Neonatal Neurology Follow-up Program with a focus on epilepsy and neurogenetics.  Dr. Olson is also Co-director of the CDKL5 Center of Excellence.

Dr. Olson has ongoing related research projects that focus on understanding and determining the underlying genetic causes of epilepsy, including the overlap of inflammatory and genetic mechanisms of epilepsy. She has expertise in both phenotypic and genotypic analysis. She is the local contact for the Rasmussen Encephalitis Research Consortium and neurologist for The Angelman Natural History Study. In 2013, Dr. Olson was selected as the recipient of the Logan Infantile Spasms Award and Research Grant by the Child Neurology Foundation.

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Dr. Wiltrout is a neurologist and epileptologist at Boston Children’s Hospital with board certification in neurology with special qualification in child neurology. Dr. Wiltrout obtained her Bachelor of Arts in neuroscience at Franklin & Marshall College and her MD degree at the University of Rochester. She completed her child neurology residency and epilepsy fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis before completing a fellowship in the Epilepsy Genetics Program at Boston Children’s Hospital. In addition to seeing patients in the Epilepsy Genetics Program, she is actively involved in clinical research projects with a focus on SYNGAP1 Related Disorder.

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Dr. Salussolia is a neurologist and epileptologist at Boston Children’s Hospital with board certification in neurology and special qualification in child neurology. She has fellowship training in epilepsy and clinical neurophysiology, as well as in neurogenetics, with a focus on epilepsy genetics and tuberous sclerosis. She is an attending physician in the Epilepsy Genetics Program and the Tuberous Sclerosis Clinic, through which she sees patients for consultations and management of epilepsy.

Dr. Salussolia obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Biology from Swarthmore College. She completed a Masters in Science at Albany Medical College in the Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience, and then received her MD/PhD degrees through the MSTP program at Stony Brook University. Her doctoral work utilized molecular techniques to identify and characterize the biogenesis of ionotropic glutamate receptors (NMDA and AMPA receptors) and its effects on disease states. She completed her pediatrics training at Stony Brook University followed by child neurology residency and fellowship training in clinical neurophysiology and neurogenetics at Boston Children’s Hospital. Her current research focuses on the molecular mechanisms​ of inhibitory signaling, specifically parvalbumin interneurons, in tuberous sclerosis-associated epilepsy.

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Lacey Smith is a clinical and academic genetic counselor who joined the Epilepsy Genetics Program in May of 2014, where she serves as the Genetic Counseling Program Manager for Epilepsy Genomics. She provides genetic counseling services to families seen in our Epilepsy Genetics Clinical Consultation Program. Her research interests aim to better understand the genetic contributions to the epilepsies, particularly through our genome-wide sequencing studies and collaborative gene discovery efforts. She is a coordinator of the ClinGen Epilepsy Sodium Channel Variant Curation Expert Panel, incorporating both gene- and disease-specific expertise into modifying variant classification rules. Lacey is a founding member of EpiGC, an international network of genetic counselors who specialize in epilepsy genetics and who are dedicated to the education of both providers and families, and is a member of the professional advisory board of the Epilepsy Foundation of New England. Lacey received her BS in Biological Science from the University of Vermont in 2009 and her MS in Genetic Counseling from Brandeis University in 2014.

Sonal joined the Epilepsy genetics program in June of 2018. Her area of expertise is Neurogenetics. She provides counseling to families seen in our Epilepsy Genetic Clinical Consultation Program as well as our Neonatal Epilepsy Clinics. 

Sonal received her BS in Biology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2012 and her Masters in Genetic Counseling from the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 2014. She worked at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in the Department of Neurogenetics before transitioning to Boston Children’s Hospital in 2018.

Rozalia Valentine joined the Epilepsy Genetics Program in July 2021. As an expert in pediatric neurogenetics, Rozalia works with the families of children with neurological disorders to help find genetic etiologies.

Rozalia received her BA in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2015 and her MS in genetic counseling from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, in 2021. While earning her degree, she provided genetic counseling services to families of children with Angelman syndrome at the Center for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities. She credits her background in research in frontal lobe inhibition in ADHD with sparking her interest in neurogenetics.

In addition to her clinical work, Rosie volunteers in variant curation and looks forward to future research opportunities.

Gillian Prinzing (she/her) joined the Epilepsy Genetics Program in July of 2022. She provides genetic counseling to families in the the Neurogenetics Program and Epilepsy Genetics Program clinics. Gillian received her BS in Biological Sciences from Cornell University and her MS in Genetic Counseling from Boston University.

Mariela joined the Epilepsy Genetics Program as a Bilingual Clinical Research Assistant in June of 2023. At Boston Children’s Hospital, she consents and informs families on the variety of research opportunities they and their children are eligible for. She recently graduated from Williams College in 2023 where she received her B.A in Chemistry with Honors and Public Health. In the future, Mariela will pursue an MD and a Master of Public Health in the aim of increasing equity and access to resources.

Maya joined the Poduri lab and Epilepsy Genetics Program in June 2023. She is currently recruiting and enrolling families into research studies, including the CACNA1A registry. Maya graduated from Wellesley College in 2023 with a BA in Biological Sciences and a minor in Psychology. She is a New Hampshire native and has worked extensively with people with disabilities. Maya is thrilled to be working closely with genetic counselors and, in the future, hopes to become a genetic counselor herself.

Anastasia joined the Epilepsy Genetics Program in September of 2022 as our program coordinator. She manages the clinical program and is the primary point person, both for referrals and for communicating with families about intake information. Anastasia was born in a city of Almaty in Kazakhstan. She received her B.S in Management and Psychology minor from Bridgewater State University in 2021. Anastasia aspires to get her Master’s in Administration.