Alison Dolce, M.D., joins Departments of Pediatrics, Neurology and Neurotherapeutics
By Julie Kirchem, Department of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics
Alison Dolce, M.D., has joined the UT Southwestern Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology and Neurotherapeutics. Dr. Dolce’s clinical and research interests will focus on the diagnosis and treatment of children with epilepsy.
“Seizures and epilepsy are the most common neurological conditions we see in child neurology,” said Dr. Dolce, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology & Neurotherapeutics. “We have a lot to offer children who suffer with seizures. Although a large number of children will be easily treated with medication, there are those who will continue to have seizures despite trying multiple medications, all of which can have significant side effects in children.”
Dr. Dolce’s focus for her young patients at Children’s Medical Center will be to offer families a chance for better seizure control through additional treatment options such as vagus nerve stimulation and dietary therapy.
“We can possibly even offer a cure for a child’s seizures through epilepsy brain surgery,” she said.
Dr. Dolce’s other goal is to work hard to alleviate some of the fears a family and child may have and help educate families on how to cope with this diagnosis.
“A diagnosis of epilepsy can be very frightening and confusing for a child and his or her family. Witnessing a seizure, no matter how many you have seen, will never be easy. My own son experienced a febrile seizure this past year and despite my training it was still tough to watch.”
Dr. Dolce received her medical degree from the University of Texas at Houston Medical School. She went on to complete a residency in pediatrics at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., followed by a second residency in pediatric neurology at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. Upon completion of her pediatric neurology training, she then did a clinical neurophysiology fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX.
Her path to UT Southwestern, however, got its start during her fourth year in medical school when she did a rotation in epilepsy with Drs. Rana Said and Susan Arnold at Children’s Medical Center.
“Working with Drs. Said and Arnold really impacted my decision to enter the field of epilepsy. I am so excited to return to UT Southwestern where my passion for child neurology and epilepsy first developed,” she said.