WVU Medicine Children’s Neuroscience Center, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute appoint new chief of Pediatric Neurology

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Lawrence D. Morton, M.D., has been appointed chief of Pediatric Neurology in the WVU Medicine Children’s Neuroscience Center and the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. 

Dr. Morton, who is also a professor in the WVU School of Medicine Department of Neurology, is a well-recognized expert in pediatric neurology with extensive experience in epilepsy and clinical neurophysiology.

Prior to coming to WVU Medicine, he served as director of clinical neurophysiology as well as chief of child neurology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). During his tenure there, the program saw significant growth with the number of faculty nearly doubling and the size of the clinical enterprise more than doubling. Morton was also co-founder of the pediatric epilepsy surgery program at VCU – a program that saw many firsts for Virginia, as VCU was the first institution to implant the vagus nerve stimulator in a pediatric patient.

In addition, Morton performed the first laser ablation epilepsy surgery in a pediatric patient and implanted the first responsive neurostimulation for epilepsy in a pediatric patient in Virginia. He also helped introduce the use of stereo electroencephalogram at VCU.

Morton’s years as an educator include serving as a long-time fellowship director in clinical neurophysiology, as well as child neurology residency director. He also served on VCU’s Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Oversight Committee.

Academically, Morton was an investigator in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Status Epilepticus Epidemiology Study at VCU. Later, he served as site principal investigator at the end of the NIH Febrile Status Epilepticus Project. He has also served as principal investigator in numerous industry-sponsored epilepsy drug trials, as well as investigational new drug trials.

Morton has served on national Child Neurology Society and American Epilepsy Society committees, multiple NIH workgroups, and various committees at VCU. He has authored multiple articles and textbook chapters.

Morton received his medical school degree at the State University of New York Downstate Health Sciences University and subsequently completed a pediatric residency at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. He then completed neurology training at the University of Pennsylvania/Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and his clinical training as a clinical neurophysiology fellow at VCU.

Morton has been the recipient of several awards, including repeated inclusions in “The Best Doctors in America” and was repeatedly included in the “Top Doctors in Richmond” during his time at VCU.

For more information on WVU Medicine Children’s, visit WVUKids.com. For more information on the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, visit WVUMedicine.org/RNI.