February 10: Althea Shelton

Dr. Althea Shelton, MD, MPH, is an associate professor of neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center specializing in sleep medicine. She is involved in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric sleep and epilepsy disorders and the teaching of neurology residents and fellows. She is board certified in neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (2008) and board certified in sleep medicine (2011). She is also a member of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, which works to improve the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families through research, service, training, dissemination, and educational advocacy.

The majority of Dr. Shelton’s research has been focused on sleep problems in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Many sleep disorders (obstructive sleep apnea, nocturnal seizures, restless leg syndrome, etc.) can lead to sleep fragmentation and thus, sleep deprivation. Sleep fragmentation contributes to a myriad of behavioral, neuropsychological and cognitive problems. Children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, already vulnerable to these problems, are even more at risk if they have a co-existing sleep disorder.

Dr. Shelton’s honors include being the past recipient of a William Penry Epilepsy Mini-fellowship (2007) and the American Academy of Neurology Residents Scholarship (2008), the Five Star Customer Service Award for Excellence in Quality of Physician Care (2014) and the Excellence in Patient Care Experience Reward (2019).