Michelle L. Seymour, MD, PhD

Dr. Seymour believes that identifying and reaching each child’s functional goals is a journey that requires the efforts of a multi-disciplinary team, and her priority is to guide and equip families in this process.  As a dually-trained physician-scientist, she also seeks to enhance patient care through research that deepens understanding of functional outcomes and communication interventions.  

Clinical Interests

Her clinical interests include pediatric traumatic and acquired brain injury, cognitive communication impairments, augmented and alternative communication (AAC) devices, spasticity and dystonia management, electrodiagnostic medicine, and transition from pediatric to adult care for individuals with chronic diseases of childhood. 

Education

Organizations

Honors and awards

2022

Outstanding Resident, Baylor College of Medicine Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

2021

Academic Chief Resident, Baylor College of Medicine Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 

2013-2016

NIH/NIDCD F31, Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Pre-doctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research 

2010-2012

NIH/NIA 5T32 Training Grant Award, Baylor College of Medicine Huffington Center on Aging 

* Texas Children’s Hospital physicians’ licenses and credentials are reviewed prior to practicing at any of our facilities. Sections titled From the Doctor, Professional Organizations and Publications were provided by the physician’s office and were not verified by Texas Children’s Hospital.

Research interests

In the research arena, Dr. Seymour is interested in receptive, expressive, and context-dependent language deficits in pediatric communication disorders; the impact of dystonia and movement disorders on AAC use; improving functional communication through AAC partner/facilitator training; and functional outcomes following pediatric traumatic and acquired brain injury. 

Gober J, Seymour ML, Miao H, Curry DJ, Thomas SP. (2022) Management of severe spasticity with and without dystonia in the pediatric population: cross-sectional study of the use of intrathecal baclofen in a large pediatric tertiary hospital. World Journal of Pediatric Surgery 5:e000407. doi: 10.1136/wjps-2021-000407

Karri J, Seymour ML, Verduzco-Gutierrez M, Jayaram P. (2020) Point-of-care procedures in physiatry: practice considerations during the Covid-19 pandemic. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation 99(7): 567-570. PMID: 32398402

Chen CA, Wang W, Pedersen SE, Raman A, Seymour ML, Ruiz FR, Xia A, van der Heijgen ME, Wang L, Yin J, Lopez J, Rech ME, Lewis RA, Wu SM, Liu Z, Pereira FA, Pautler RG, Zoghbi HY and Schaaf CP. (2020) Nr2f1 heterozygous knockout mice recapitulate neurological phenotypes of Bosch-Boonstra-Schaaf optic atrophy syndrome and show impaired hippocampal synaptic plasticity. Hum Mol Genetic 29;5:705-715. PMID: 31600777

Lotfi P, Tse DY, Seymour ML, Cooper J, Pereira FA, Wu SM, and Sardiello M. (2018) Trehalose reduces retinal degeneration, neuroinflammation and storage burden caused by a lysosomal hydrolase deficiency. Autophagy. 14;8:1419-1434. PMID: 29916295

Xie W, Jen HI, Seymour ML, Yeh SY, Pereira FA, Groves AK, Klisch TJ, Zoghbi HY. (2017) An Atoh1-S193A phosphor-mutant allele causes hearing deficits and motor impairment. Journal of Neuroscience. Sep 6;37(36):8583-8594. PMID: 28729444

Seymour ML, Rajagopalan L, Duret G, Volk MJ, Liu H, Brownell WE, Pereira FA. (2016) Membrane prestin expression correlates with the magnitude of prestin-associated charge movement. Hear Res. 339:50-9. PMID: 27262187

Seymour ML and Pereira FA. (2015) Survival of auditory hair cells. Cell Tissue Res. 361(1):59-63. PMID: 25743696

View PubMed Publications