Pediatric Neurotrauma Lab Team
Director and Principal Investigator
Andrew Reisner, MD, FACS, FAAP, Pediatric Neurosurgery
Dr. Reisner is a pediatric neurosurgeon. He completed his neurosurgery residency at Emory University and a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. He has been an attending neurosurgeon at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for almost 30 years. He has a large clinical practice and has averaged over 400 surgical cases annually over this period. Dr. Reisner’s research activity has focused on neurotrauma. He established the severe TBI and concussion clinical programs at CHOA as well as the translational research-focused Pediatric Neurotrauma Lab. He has authored over 150 papers, abstracts and book chapters and given over 300 presentations nationally and internationally. Dr Reisner was appointed Elaine and John C. Carlos Chair of Neurotrauma at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and was awarded the Children’s Care Network "Award of Merit" for significant contributions to Pediatrics. He is currently Chair, Neurotraumatology, of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS).
Principal Investigator
Laura Blackwell, PhD, Pediatric Neuropsychology
Laura Blackwell, PhD, ABPP-CN, is a Pediatric Neuropsychologist and Co-Director of the Pediatric Neuropsychology Fellowship Program at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and serves as Associate Professor at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Blackwell primarily cares for children and adolescents following an acquired brain injury, including moderate and severe head injuries, concussion, and stroke. She joined Children’s and Emory in 2016 following her fellowship training in clinical neuropsychology at Boston Children's Hospital. Prior to her fellowship, she completed her doctoral degree at the University of Miami followed by a predoctoral internship at Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, with primary rotations in neuropsychology and pediatric psychology. As a principal investigator in the Pediatric Neurotrauma Lab, her research focuses on examining different types of biological biomarkers that could help provide information about management and predictors of outcomes in pediatric traumatic brain injury.
Research Team Lead
CO-Investigator
Meena Verma, MD, CCRP
Meena is a pediatrician and clinical researcher with 20+ years of clinical experience with subject matter expertise in design-execution of clinical research studies. A public health professional and passionate servant leader who led an acclaimed 501(c)(3) non-profit. As an Executive Director and Chief Mentor, she led extensive domestic and global public health work. Meena is currently the Neurosciences Research Team Lead at the Scottish Rite Campus. She oversees several studies under Neurology, Neurosurgery, Neuropsychology, Craniofacial, and Urology.
CO-Investigator
Jacob R. Lepard, MD, Pediatric Neurosurgery
Dr. Lepard completed neurosurgical training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, during which time he participated in Paul Farmer Global Surgery Fellowship at the Harvard Program in Global Surgery and Social Change. He then went on to complete post-graduate fellowships in complex spine surgery at the UAB Department of Orthopedics and Pediatric Neurosurgery at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine. He now practices at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta/Emory University School of Medicine.
Morehouse School of Medicine
Kevin Wang, PhD
Director of the Center for Neurotrauma, MultiOmics & Biomarkers (CNMB), Professor & Vice-Chair of Neurobiology and Faculty of the Neuroscience Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine.
Morehouse School of Medicine
Firas H. Kobaissy, PHD
Associate Director of the Center for Neurotrauma, MultiOmics & Biomarkers (CNMB), Professor of Neurobiology and Faculty of the Neuroscience Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine
Program Manager, Neurotrauma
Mahwish Javed, MS, MPH
Mahwish joined Children’s in 2016. She is Program Manager in Neurosciences. Her primary focus is to provide effective leadership and overall management of 4 outpatient large complex, multidisciplinary clinics. This entails, overseeing all clinical and non-clinical operations including, tracking progress toward clinical goals, facilitating coordination among participating partners, evaluating clinical data, and coordinate submission of new project proposals, preparation of manuscripts and report project status to leadership. She is also responsible for strategic planning, program design/implementation, marketing, and identifying new funding opportunities. She obtained her Master of Public Health in Public Health Informatics from University of Illinois – Chicago, Illinois, and Master of Science in Health Communications from University of Peshawar – Pakistan.
CO-Investigator
Anna Baer, MD, PhD, Pediatric Neuroradiology
Dr. Baer is an assistant professor of radiology and imaging sciences and a pediatric neuroradiologist at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Her research focus is on investigating the role of advanced diagnostic techniques in assessment of microstructural and functional brain changes in health and disease. She is a recipient of RSNA Research Resident and RSNA Research Fellow grants for investigating functional brain connectivity changes underlying vestibular symptoms persistence after mild traumatic brain injury. Dr. Baer earned her medical degree from Saint Petersburg State Medical University and a PhD from S.M. Kirov Medical Military Academy, both in Russia. She completed diagnostic radiology residency as well as fellowships in neuroradiology and pediatric neuroradiology at Emory University School of Medicine. She is board certified in both diagnostic radiology and neuroradiology.
Nina Fainberg, MD, Neurocritical Care Medicine
Dr. Nina Fainberg MD is a pediatric intensivist with additional specialization in neurocritical care. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University in 2009 and her Doctor of Medicine degree from Duke University School of Medicine in 2015. Dr. Fainberg completed her residency in pediatrics at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in 2018, followed by a year as Chief Resident. She continued at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to complete her fellowship in pediatric critical care medicine in 2022, as well as an additional fellowship in neurocritical care, completed in 2023. Dr. Fainberg's academic interests are in biomedical ethics, effective communication, and end-of-life care for critically ill children with neurologic disease. Her work has been published in a number of leading journals, including Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Critical Care Explorations, JAMA Pediatrics, and Neurology.
Marco Benoit, CCRP
Myer Khan
Myer Khan is an undergraduate at the Georgia Institute of Technology, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience along with a minor in Computational Data Analysis. In the Pediatric Neurotrauma Lab, Myer serves as a Research Assistant focusing on the TORCH study, with aspirations of working towards a career both as a practicing physician and clinical researcher.
Leslie Velasquez, MPH
Leslie Velasquez joined the lab as a Research Coordinator in July 2025. Leslie graduated from the University of Georgia with an MPH in epidemiology and BS in Health Promotion. Much of Leslie’s educational and professional interests revolve around the social determinants of health.
Jai Trivedi
Jai Trivedi is an undergraduate Biology major at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Since joining the lab in August 2024, he has served as a research coordinator—guiding participants through the consent process, managing study logistics, and data analytics. Jai plans to enter medical school after graduation and ultimately pursue a surgical career.
