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Pilar Pichon

Pilar Pichon

•HS Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatrics, UC Irvine School of Medicine
•Child Neurologist/Epileptologist, Children's Hospital of Orange County

Biography

Pilar Pichon, M.D., is Medical Director of the Rett Syndrome Center of Excellence at CHOC's Thompson Autism and Neurodevelopmental Center and HS Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UC Irvine School of Medicine. She also holds an appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Loma Linda University School of Medicine. Pichon received her M.D. from Albany Medical College and completed fellowship training in Clinical Neurophysiology with emphasis in Pediatric Epilepsy at Emory University, where she gained clinical exposure at the Marcus Autism Center.

Pichon's research focuses on neurodevelopmental outcomes in children with cardiac conditions and epilepsy surgery outcomes in pediatric patients. She serves as Principal Investigator at CHOC for multiple studies, including the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Consortium (PERC) Epilepsy Surgery Workgroup, the EMAtS Natural History Registry Database, and studies related to Rett syndrome. Her work on magnetic resonance spectroscopy in predicting outcomes for pediatric heart transplant patients has been presented at national and international meetings. She received a Research Initiative Award from the International Rett Syndrome Foundation in 2024 and a GRASP Award in 2019 for research on ketogenic diet and functional recovery in traumatic brain injury.

Pichon is an elected member of The North American Metabolic Academy and received the American Epilepsy Society Fellow Award in 2015. She has authored publications on cannabidiol treatment for epilepsy and pediatric epilepsy surgery outcomes, and has contributed to multi-center studies examining factors associated with surgical evaluation and outcomes in pediatric drug-resistant epilepsy. She is a member of the Child Neurology Society, American Academy of Neurology, American Epilepsy Society, and International Neurological Ketogenic Society.

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Education

  • B.S. in Biology, University of California Los Angeles, 1999
  • M.S. in Physiology and Biophysics, Georgetown University, 2003
  • M.D., Albany Medical College, 2009
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Distinctions

  • American Society for Microbiology/NIH/NIGMS Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, 2007
  • Accepted to The North American Metabolic Academy 1.0, 2022
  • Accepted to The North American Metabolic Academy 2.0, 2022
  • American Epilepsy Society Fellow, 2015
  • American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Institute's Annual Meeting Resident Scholarship, 2013
  • Outstanding Junior Member Award, Child Neurology Society, 2013
  • Pediatric Epilepsy Seminar Scholarship, Virginia Commonwealth University at the Child Neurology Society Meeting, 2013
  • Neuromodulation Workshop Scholarship, North American Neuromodulation Society, 2013
  • UCLA Outstanding Senior Spotlight Award, 1999
  • Montano Endowed Scholarship, Albany Medical College, 2003
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Areas of Expertise

  • Pediatric Epilepsy and Neurophysiology
  • Tuberous Sclerosis Visual Processing
  • Cardiac Transplant Neurodevelopmental Outcomes
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Biomarkers
  • Rett Syndrome Clinical Management
  • Ketogenic Therapies for Epilepsy
  • Nonketotic Hyperglycinemia Dietary Treatment

Recent Publications

  • Samanta, Debopam, Newell, Grace, Caraway, Avery, Brock, Emily, Albert, Gregory, Novotny, Edward, Cabacar, Dewi, Oluigbo, Chima, Gaillard, William, Tatachar, Priyamvada, Bolton, Jeffrey, Wong-Kisiel, Lily, Romanowski, Erin, Mcnamara, Nancy, Eschbach, Krista, Alexander, Allyson, Auguste, Kurtis, Gonzalez-Giraldo, Ernesto, Pichon, Olaya, Shrey, Danilo, et al., “Factors Associated With More Medication Trials Before Surgical Evaluation and Postsurgical Outcomes in Pediatric Drug-Resistant Epilepsy” (opens in new tab), Neurology, vol. 105, pp. e214198, 2025.
  • Al‐Ramadhani, Ruba, Hyslop, Ann, Caraway, Avery, Novotny, Edward, Ostendorf, Adam, Eschbach, Krista, Alexander, Allyson, Wong-Kisiel, Lily, Depositario‐Cabacar, Dewi, Oluigbo, Chima, Karakas, Cemal, Karia, Samir, Tatachar, Priyamvada, Bolton, Jeffrey, Pichon, Pilar, Shrey, Daniel, Romanowski, Erin, McNamara, Nancy, Gonzalez‐Giraldo, Ernesto, Perry, Michael, “Factors Influencing the Duration From the Initiation of Surgical Evaluation to Final Intervention in Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery”, Annals of the Child Neurology Society, vol. 3, pp. 188-200, 2025.
  • Cohen, Nathan, Depositario-Cabacar, Dewi, Oluigbo, Chima, Ostendorf, Adam, Wong-Kisiel, Lily, Romanowski, Erin, McNamara, Nancy, Tatachar, Priyamvada, Eschbach, Krista, Alexander, Allyson, Pichon, Pilar, Ciliberto, Michael, Gonzalez-Giraldo, Ernesto, Bernardo, Danilo, Auguste, Kurtis, Coryell, Jason, Arredondo, Kristen, Novotny, Edward, Reddy, Shilpa, Gaillard, William, “Outcomes of Early-Life Focal Cortical Dysplasia-Related Epilepsy: A PERC Surgery Study” (opens in new tab), Neurology. Clinical practice, vol. 15, pp. e200539, 2025.
  • Pichon, P., Batarseh, S., Banihani, J., Loeb, J., Tang-Wai, R., Sallowm, D., Michelson, D., Nichols, J., Boling, W., “Lesional Magnetic Resonance Imaging is associated with better outcomes in the Loma Linda University Children's Hospital experience”, Neurology, vol. 102, no. 17_supplement_1, 2024.
  • Pichon P, Ochuko Diamreyan, “Low glycemic index treatment may be a better option for attenuated Nonketotic Hyperglycinemia”, 2023. Presented at 8th Global Symposium on Ketogenic Therapies, Coronado, California, Sep 19, 2023.
  • Szaflarski, J, Devinski, O, Lopez, M, Pichon Zentil, P, Patel A, Thiele, E A, Wechsler, R, “Long-term efficacy and safety of cannabidiol in patients with treatment-resistant epilepsies: 4-year results from the expanded access program” (opens in new tab), Epilepsia, 2022.
  • Tang-Wai, R, Ashwal, S, Fteeh, G, Loeb, J, Michelson, D, Pichon Zentil, P, “Treating Pediatric Intractable Epilepsy with Intravenous Immunoglobulins and Prednisone”, 2022. Presented at 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, Nashville, Tennessee, Dec. 5, 2022.
  • Gagandeep Singh, Pichon, P, “Perioperative Noninvasive Neuromonitoring in Infants with Congenital Heart Disease”, Critical Care Medicine, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 191-191, 2022.
  • Pichon Zentil, P, Nichols, J, Loeb, J, Arca, C, Pivonca-Jones, J, Boling, W, “Visual Memory is improved in children 1 year after epilepsy surgery on the right hemisphere”, 2019. Presented at 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, Baltimore, Maryland, Dec 8, 2019.
  • Szaflarski, J, Martina Bebin, E, Comi, A, Patel, A, Joshi, C, Checketts, D, Beal, J, De Boer, L, Wong, M, Lopez, M, Devinsky, O, Lyons, P, Pichon Zentil, P, Wechsler, R, “Long-term safety and treatment effects of cannabidiol in children and adults with treatment-resistant epilepsies: Expanded acccess program results”, Epilepsia, vol. 59, no. 8, pp. 1540-1548, 2018.
  • Pichon, P, Holshouser, B, Ashwal, S, Krishnamurthy, V, Freier, K, “Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) predict cognitive outcomes in children after cardiac transplantation”, 2018. Presented at American Academy of Neurology 70th Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, California, April 2018.
  • Liu, Yin, Pichon Zentil, P., Harder, S., Zouros, A., Boling, W., Ashwal, S., “Seizure burden and hydrocephalus as factors in considering brain surgery for pediatric patients with tuberous sclerosis complex”, 2017. Presented at 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, Washington, DC, December 2017.
  • Sallowm, Delphin, Pichon, P., Boling, W., Ashwal, S., Bannout, F., “A new phenotype of bilateral independent, focal SMA seizures in a child with SCN1A gene mutation, a case report of clinical and intracranial sVEEG findings and review of literature”, 2017. Presented at 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, Washington, DC, December 2017.
  • Chan, K.Y. C., Pichon, P., “Pre-cardiac Transplant MRI patterns and post-cardiac transplant outcome in neonates”, Annals of Neurology, vol. 82, pp. S 81, 2017. Presented at Child Neurology Society Meeting 2017, Kansas City, MO.
  • Lekic T, Klebe DW, Pichon, P., Brankiv K., Sultan, S., McBride DW, Casel D, Al-Bayati A, Din Y, Tang J, Zhang JH, “Aligning animal models of clinical germinal matrix hemorrhage, from basic correlation to therapeutic approach”, Current Drug Targets, vol. 17, 2016.
  • Pichon Zentil, P, Chee, P, “Vagal Nerve Stimulation for Super-Refractory Status Epilepticus”, 2016. Presented at 70th American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting 2016, Houston, Texas, 2016.
  • Pichon, P., Holshouser, B., Ashwal, S., Krishnamurthy, V., Freier, K., “Presence of seizures and lactate in brain Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) predict poor long-term outcome in children after cardiac transplantation”, 2015. Presented at 69th American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting 2015, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2015.
  • Pichon, P., Ko, J., Nelson, C., Jeste, S., “Delayed low level visual processing in infants with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC)”, Neurology, vol. 82, no. 10 Supplement, pp. P4.340, 2014. Presented at American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting 2014, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 8, 2014.
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Contact Information

Email: ppichon@uci.edu

Phone: (626) 921-0028

Address: 1201 W. La Veta Avenue

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This profile was created with the help of AI.

Last updated on 5/14/2026.