Sarah Beth Mulkey, M.D., Ph.D. Co-Director, Congenital Infection; Prenatal and Neonatal Neurologist; Program Director, Prenatal and Neonatal Fellowship
Sarah Beth Mulkey, M.D., Ph.D., is a prenatal-neonatal neurologist in the Division of Prenatal Pediatrics at Children’s National Hospital. Dr. Mulkey joined the Prenatal Pediatrics Institute at Children’s National in 2016. She grew up in South Florida and earned a medical degree from the Florida State University College of Medicine. She completed a residency in child neurology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.
Following completion of her residency, Dr. Mulkey became the first and only dedicated neonatal neurologist in Arkansas providing state-of-the-art neurologic care to newborns with a variety of complex neurologic conditions. She was the site Principal Investigator at Arkansas Children’s Hospital for the Phase II clinical trial for erythropoietin as a neuroprotective agent for neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy led by University of California San Francisco (Dr. Yvonne Wu).
In 2015, Dr. Mulkey earned a Ph.D. in clinical and translational sciences to further support her development as a clinical researcher. Her research interests include brain injury in the fetus and newborn, brain growth and development, and neurodevelopmental outcomes in newborns at risk for brain injury.
Dr. Mulkey is an active member of the Society for Pediatric Research and the Child Neurology Society. Her clinical expertise and interests focus on abnormal development or injury to the developing brain. She has authored multiple peer-reviewed manuscripts on topics related to newborn brain injury, neuroprotection, neuroimaging of the newborn brain and on neurodevelopmental outcomes.
She enjoys exploring the Washington, D.C., area and visiting parks with her husband and three young children.
Address: 111 Michigan Ave. NW; Washington, D.C., 20010
Email: fetalbrain@childrensnational.org
Department: MRI Lab
Research, Education and Innovation Week 2025 award
Wu Y, Kapse K, Andringa-Seed R, Arroyave-Wessel M, Berl M, Cure C, Teramoto H, De Asis-Cruz J, Mora Alvarez MG, Vezina G, Sabbag RT, Limperopoulos C, Mulkey SB. "Reduced Brain Volumes in Normocephalic Children With Prenatal Zika Virus Exposure” Poster presentation. Children’s National Hospital 15th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. March-April 2025. (High-scoring poster)
Recent publications
2025 | August
Chirumamilla VC, Mulkey SB, Anwar T, Baker R, Maxwell GL, Asis-Cruz J, Kapse K, Limperopoulos C, Plessis AD, Govindan RB. “Directional Flow of Brain Connections and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Healthy Full-Term Newborns.” Neuroscience Letters. 2025 Aug 30:138371. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2025.138371. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40889547
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40889547
2025 | April
Andringa-Seed R*, Calderón Suarez L*, Berl MM, Corn E, Gordish-Dressman H, Williams ME, Arroyave-Wessel M, Cure C, Mulkey S.B. (* co-lead authors contributed equally) "Social and Environmental Influences on the Cognitive and Social-Emotional Developmental Outcomes of Rural and Urban Colombian Children at Early School Age." Poster presentation. Pediatric Academic Societies 2025. Honolulu, Hawaii.
De Asis-Cruz J, Mulkey SB, Kapse K, Wu Y, Teramoto H, Mora Álvarez MG, Andringa-Seed R, Arroyave-Wessel M, Berl M, Tarud R, Vezina G, Cure C, Limperopoulos C. "Disrupted Ventral Striatal Functional Connectivity in Colombian School-Age Children Exposed in Utero to the Zika Virus." Poster presentation. Pediatric Academic Societies 2025. Honolulu, Hawaii.
Iglesias M, McCausland DS, Mahendran M, Gordish-Dressman H, Baker R, Ursini G, Mulkey SB. “Exploring the Relationship Between Child Opportunity Index and Bayley-III Scores in Young Children.” Poster presentation. Pediatric Academic Societies 2025. Honolulu, Hawaii.
McCausland DS, Iglesias M, Mahendran M, Gordish-Dressman H, Jackle L, Harkness J, Brenner R, Newell M, Baker R, Maxwell GL, Ursini G, Mulkey SB. “Differences in Early Child Neurodevelopment Following Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Maternal SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Pregnancy.” Poster presentation. Pediatric Academic Societies 2025. Honolulu, Hawaii.
Mora Álvarez MG, Mulkey SB, Kapse K, Wu Y, Teramoto H, Andringa-Seed R, Arroyave-Wessel M, Berl MM, Tarud Sabbag RE, Vezina G, Cure C, De Asis-Cruz J, Limperopoulos C. "White Matter Microstructural Disruptions in Zika Virus-Exposed Children Without Congenital Zika Syndrome." Poster presentation. Pediatric Academic Societies 2025. Honolulu, Hawaii. April 2025.
Mulkey SB, Andringa-Seed R, Corn E, Williams ME, Peyton C, Arroyave-Wessel M, Podolsky R, Msall ME, Berl M, Cure C. "Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Colombian Children With Antenatal Zika Virus Exposure at School Age During the COVID-19 Pandemic." Poster presentation. Pediatric Academic Societies 2025. Honolulu, Hawaii.
Wu Y, Kapse K, Andringa-Seed R, Arroyave-Wessel M, Berl MM, Cure C, Teramoto H, De Asis-Cruz J, Mora Álvarez MG, Vezina G, Tarud Sabbag RE, Limperopoulos C, Mulkey SB. "Reduced Brain Volumes in Normocephalic Children With Prenatal Zika Virus Exposure." Oral abstract presentation. Pediatric Academic Societies 2025. Honolulu, Hawaii.
2025 | March
Mora Álvarez M, Mulkey S, Kapse K, Wu Y, Teramoto H, Andringa-Seed R, Arroyave-Wessel M, Berl M, Tarud Sabbag RE, Vezina G, Cure C, De Asis-Cruz J, Limperopoulos C. "White Matter Microstructural Disruptions in Zika Virus-Exposed Children Without Congenital Zika Syndrome” Poster presentation. Children’s National Hospital 15th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. March-April 2025.
2024 | November
Chirumamilla VC, Mulkey SB, Anwar T, Baker R, Maxwell GL, De Asis-Cruz J, Kapse K, Limperopoulos C, du Plessis A, Govindan RB. “Asymmetry of Directed Brain Connectivity at Birth in Low-Risk Full-Term Newborns.” Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology. 2024 Nov 12. doi: 10.1097/WNP.0000000000001131. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39531276
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39531276
2024 | August
Corn E, Andringa-Seed R, Williams ME, Arroyave-Wessel M, Tarud R, Vezina G, Podolsky RH, Kapse K, Limperopoulos C, Berl MM, Cure C, Mulkey SB. “Feasibility and Success of a Non-Sedated Brain MRI Training Protocol in 7-year-old Children From Rural and Semi-Rural Colombia.” Pediatric Radiology. 2024 Aug;54(9):1513-1522. doi: 10.1007/s00247-024-05964-y. Epub 2024 Jul 6. PMID: 38970708; PMCID: PMC11482647
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38970708
2024 | July
Yates EF, Mulkey SB. “Viral infections in pregnancy and impact on offspring neurodevelopment: mechanisms and lessons learned.” Pediatric Research. 2024 Jul;96(1):64-72. doi: 10.1038/s41390-024-03145-z. Epub 2024 Mar 20. PMID: 38509227; PMCID: PMC11257821
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38509227/
2024 | April
Chirumamilla VC, Hitchings L, Mulkey SB, Anwar T, Baker R, Maxwell L, De Asis Cruz J, Kapse K, Limperopoulos C, du Plessis AJ, Govindan RB. Communications among Rich-club brain regions in term low-risk newborn EEG sources. Children’s National Hospital 14th Annual Research, Education and Innovation Week. Washington, D.C. April 2024.
2024 | February
Chirumamilla VC, Hitchings L, Mulkey SB, Anwar T, Baker R, Larry Maxwell G, De Asis-Cruz J, Kapse K, Limperopoulos C, du Plessis A, Govindan RB. Association of brain functional connectivity with neurodevelopmental outcomes in healthy full-term newborns. Clin Neurophysiol. 2024 Feb 15;160:68-74. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2024.02.009. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38412745
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38412745/
Mulkey SB, Corn E, Williams ME, Peyton C, Andringa-Seed R, Arroyave-Wessel M, Vezina G, Bulas DI, Podolsky RH, Msall ME, Cure C. Neurodevelopmental outcomes of normocephalic Colombian children with antenatal Zika virus exposure at school entry. Pathogens. 2024 Feb 13;13(2):170. doi: 10.3390/pathogens13020170. PMID: 38392908; PMCID: PMC10892822
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38392908/
2023 | December
Molloy EJ, Branagan A, Hurley T, Quirke F, Devane D, Taneri PE, El-Dib M, Bloomfield FH, Maeso B, Pilon B, Bonifacio SL, Wusthoff CJ, Chalak L, Bearer C, Murray DM, Badawi N, Campbell S, Mulkey S, Gressens P, Ferriero DM, de Vries LS, Walker K, Kay S, Boylan G, Gale C, Robertson NJ, D'Alton M, Gunn A, Nelson KB; Steering Group for DEFiNE (Definition of Neonatal Encephalopathy). Neonatal encephalopathy and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: moving from controversy to consensus definitions and subclassification. Pediatr Res. 2023 Dec;94(6):1860-1863. doi: 10.1038/s41390-023-02775-z. Epub 2023 Aug 12. PMID: 37573378
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37573378/