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

Sarah B. Mulkey, M.D., Ph.D., a fetal-neonatal neurologist at Children’s National Health System and the JAMA Pediatrics' study lead author.

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: [email protected]
Department: MRI Lab

Recent publications

2024 | July

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 Jul 6. doi: 10.1007/s00247-024-05964-y. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38970708
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38970708/

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/

2023 | November

Bearer C, Abman SH, Agostoni C, Ballard P, Bliss J, de Boode WP, Canpolat FE, Chalak L, Cilio MR, Dammann O, Davis J, El-Metwally D, Ferriero D, Ford S, Fuentes-Afflick E, Gano D, Giussani D, Gonzalez F, Gunn A, Hogeveen M, Huang AY, Kaplan J, Klebanoff M, Lachman P, Mak R, Malhotra A, Miller S, Mitchell WB, Molloy E, Mulkey SB, Roland D, Sampath V, Sant'Anna G, Schaff P, Singer LT, Stroustrup A, Tingay D, Tiribelli C, Toldi G, Tryggestad J, Valente EM, Wilson-Costello D, Zupancic J. Asperger's syndrome - about time to rename it? Pediatr Res. 2023 Nov 13. doi: 10.1038/s41390-023-02885-8. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37957241
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37957241/

Mulkey SB, Bearer CF, Molloy EJ. Indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children relate to the child's age and experience. Pediatr Res. 2023 Nov;94(5):1586-1587. doi: 10.1038/s41390-023-02681-4. Epub 2023 Jun 6. PMID: 37280324; PMCID: PMC10242215
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37280324/

2023 | October

Fortin O, Christoffel K, Kousa Y, Miller I, Leon E, Donoho K, Mulkey SB, Anwar T. Pearls & Oy-sters: Delayed Response to Pyridoxine in Pyridoxine-Dependent Epilepsy. Neurology. 2023 Oct 31;101(18):e1828-e1832. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000207829. Epub 2023 Aug 14. PMID: 37580162; PMCID: PMC10634650
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37580162/

Fortin O, Mulkey SB. Neurodevelopmental outcomes in congenital and perinatal infections. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2023 Oct 1;36(5):405-413. doi: 10.1097/QCO.0000000000000946. Epub 2023 Jul 19. PMID: 37466092; PMCID: PMC10530333
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37466092/

Mulkey SB. Contemporary Understanding of the Central Autonomic Nervous System in Fetal-Neonatal Transition. Semin Pediatr Neurol. 2023 Oct;47:101081. doi: 10.1016/j.spen.2023.101081. Epub 2023 Sep 9. PMID: 37919029
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37919029/

2023 | September

Neelam V, Woodworth KR, Chang DJ, Roth NM, Reynolds MR, Akosa A, Carr CP, Anderson KN, Mulkey SB, DeBiasi RL, Biddle C, Lee EH, Elmore AL, Scotland SJ, Sowunmi S, Longcore ND, Ahmed M, Langlois PH, Khuwaja S, Browne SE, Lind L, Shim K, Gosciminski M, Blumenfeld R, Khuntia S, Halai UA, Locklear A, Chan M, Willabus T, Tonzel J, Marzec NS, Barreto NA, Sanchez C, Fornoff J, Hale S, Nance A, Iguchi L, Adibhatla SN, Potts E, Schiffman E, Raman D, McDonald MF, Stricklin B, Ludwig E, Denson L, Contreras D, Romitti PA, Ferrell E, Marx M, Signs K, Cook A, Leedom VO, Beauregard S, Orantes LC, Cronquist L, Roush L, Godfred-Cato S, Gilboa SM, Meaney-Delman D, Honein MA, Moore CA, Tong VT. Outcomes up to age 36 months after congenital Zika virus infection-U.S. states. Pediatr Res. 2023 Sep 1. doi: 10.1038/s41390-023-02787-9. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37658124
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37658124/

2023 | August

Tarui T, Venkatesan C, Gano D, Lemmon ME, Mulkey SB, Pardo AC, Emrick L, Scher M, Agarwal S. Fetal Neurology Practice Survey: Current Practice and the Future Directions. Pediatr Neurol. 2023 Aug;145:74-79. doi: 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2023.04.016. Epub 2023 Apr 25. PMID: 37290231
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37290231/

Abdi K, Adams E, Agarwal S, Ergun MA, Altamimi T, Aral A, Arfi H, Armour E, Armstrong L, Mulkey SB, Bambi J, Baxter L, Benner E, Bhattacharya S, Biselele T, Bolay H, Mayorga PC, Carrasco M, Carter E, Chao A, Cooke A, Corsi-Cabrera M, Cubero-Rego L, Cuddyer D, Gano DD, Cubero-Rego MLA, de Ribaupierre S, Drobyshevsky A, El-Dib M, Elmazoglu Z, Emrick L, Epstein A, Erdei C, Flynn P, Duerden EG, Gibson K, Gregory S, Topa EGA, Aliyu MH, Harmony T, Harshbarger J, Hartley C, Hayakawa M, Kazan HH, Inder T, Ito Y, Jain V, Jurkiewicz M, Kapoor B, Kebaya L, Keles Gulnerman E, Kidokoro H, Kling E, Kumai S, Lebane D, Lemmon M, Salihu HM, Marchant S, Maxfield C, Mbayabo G, Meyerink P, Millman R, Mitsumatsu T, Nakata T, Narita H, Natsume J, Pacheco J, Pagano L, Pardo A, Peyton C, Pineda R, Reddy S, Ricardo-Garcell J, Rikard B, Roychaudhuri S, Nichols ES, Sadowska-Krawczenko I, Sato Y, Sawamura F, Scher M, Sharon D, Sheldon Y, Shiraki A, Singh E, Steele T, Suzui R, Tady BP, Taga G, Tarui T, Trapp N, Tristao L, Tuka D, Ushida T, Usman F, Venkatesan C, Watanabe H, Witulska-Alagöz A, Yamamoto H, Yarnykh V, Younge N. Proceedings of the 14th International Newborn Brain Conference: Fetal and/or neonatal brain development, both normal and abnormal. J Neonatal Perinatal Med. 2023;16(s1):S1-S19. doi: 10.3233/NPM-239001. PMID: 37599540
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37599540/

2023 | July

Roth NM, Delgado-López C, Wiggins LD, Muñoz NN, Mulkey SB, Nieves-Ferrer L, Woodworth KR, Rosario GM, Huertas MM, Moore CA, Tong VT, Gilboa SM, Valencia-Prado M. Notes from the Field: Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children with Laboratory Evidence of Prenatal Zika Virus Exposure - Puerto Rico, 2023. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2023 Jul 21;72(29):802-804. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7229a5. PMID: 37471268; PMCID: PMC10360653
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37471268/