Elaine Stashinko

Biography

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Dr. Stashinko received her bachelor's of science degree in nursing from Albright College in 1975, her master's of science in maternal and child health nursing from the University of Maryland in 1979, and her doctorate degree from the University of Pennsylvania with a focus on biobehavioral research in children in 1987. Dr. Stashinko was a research associate at Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health and nurse researcher at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center from 1988 until 1997. Dr. Stashinko taught research and theory as faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing in the graduate program from 1992 until 2000. She joined the Kennedy Krieger Institute as director of the Carter Center for Brain Research in Holoprosencephaly and Related Malformations in 2000. She is also a research scientist and director of clinical research within the Phelps Center for Cerebral Palsy and Neurodevelopmental Medicine, as well as the director of nursing research at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. Dr. Stashinko is a member of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine. RESEARCH SUMMARY: Dr. Stashinko’s research and publications focus on the epidemiology of brain malformations and injury, health-related quality of life, and treatment of movement disorders in children with cerebral palsy. Over the past 11 years, as part of the Carter Center for Brain Research in Holoprosencephaly and Related Malformations, she has collaborated with a national network of researchers studying holoprosencephaly (HPE), a rare brain malformation, and one of the causes of cerebral palsy. The focus of her HPE research and publications include identification of genetic and environmental risk factors, neuroimaging characteristics and clinical management of children with HPE. Additionally, Dr. Hoon and she have collaborated within a multidisciplinary team for the past eight years on several advanced neuroimaging studies of children with cerebral palsy with the goal to analyze relationships among etiological antecedents, white matter tract (WMT) classification and cerebral palsy phenotypes.

Research Interest

Epidemiology