Cristina Go

Epileptologist and Clinical Neurophysiologist

Director, Neurostimulator (Epilepsy) Program

Dr. Cristina Go’s clinical and research focus as an Epileptologist and Clinical Neurophysiologist is on the management of children with drug-resistant epilepsy.

As a clinician and epileptologist, her main research is aimed at timely medical treatment of infantile epileptic encephalopathy (specifically, in patients with infantile spasms) and identifying modifiable risk factors (specifically, those with possible malformation of cortical development) to determine if early surgical intervention can improve seizure outcomes and also developmental outcomes.

Go is also conducting other studies relating to management of seizures of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy who failed epilepsy surgery or are not candidates for epilepsy surgery, using the vagal nerve stimulator (VNS) and deep brain stimulator (DBS).

She is also involved in advancing epilepsy care and education in Ukraine through medical and educational mission trips as well as mentorship of physicians from Ukraine.

Research

Go is involved in collaborative research in epilepsy surgery, medical management of infantile spasms, functional imaging, and neuromodulation for epilepsy. She also does quality improvement research to increase efficiencies in the use of limited neurophysiology resources.

Education and experience

• 2001–present: Diplomate in Neurology, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Recertified in March 2011, (USA).
• 2008–present: Certified in Clinical Neurophysiology (EEG), Canadian Society of Clinical Neurophysiologists, (Canada).
• 2008–present: Staff Clinical Neurophysiologist, Division of Neurology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  
• 2008–present: Director, Vagal Nerve Stimulation Program, Division of Neurology, Epilepsy Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  
• 2008–present: Staff Neurologist, Division of Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.   
• 2010–present: Co-director, Infantile Spasms Clinic, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2011–present: Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology,  University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
• 2013–present: Diplomate in Clinical Epilepsy, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology Subspecialty Examination. (USA) 
• 2017–present: Consultant Physician, Lviv and Kyiv, Ukraine.
• 2018–present: Consultant Physician, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2020–present: Associate Program Director of the Paediatric Epilepsy Fellowship Training Program (Neurophysiology), Division of Neurology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Achievements

• 2020: Faculty CanMEDS Excellence Award, Pediatric Neurology. The Hospital for Sick Children.

1. Go CY, MacKay MT, Weiss SK, Adams-Weber T, Ashwal S, Snead OC. Evidence-based guideline update: Medical treatment of infantile spasms: Report of the Guideline Development Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology and the Practice Committee of the Child Neurology Society. Neurology 2012; 78; 1974-1980.
2. Whitney R, AlMehmadi S, McCoy B, Yau I, Ochi A, Otsubo H, Weiss SK, Rutka J, Hazrati LN, Snead OC 3rd, Go C. The Fault in Their Stars-Accumulating Astrocytic Inclusions Associated With Clusters of Epileptic Spasms in Children With Global Developmental Delay. Pediatric Neurology. 2017 Aug; 73: 92-97.e3. 
3. Jain P, Whitney R, Go C. Extreme delta brushes in a 14-year old girl with anti-NMDAR encephalitis. Neurology India 2018 Mar-Apr; 66(2): 536-538.
4. Jain P, Whitney R, Strantzas S, McCoy B, Ochi A, Otsubo H, Snead OC 3rd, Weiss S, Donner E, Pang E, Sharma R, Viljoen A, Keller A, Drake JM, Rutka JT, Go C. Intra-operative cortical motor mapping using subdural grid electrodes in children undergoing epilepsy surgery evaluation and comparison with the conventional extra-operative motor mapping. Clinical Neurophysiology 2018 Dec; 129 (12): 2642-2649.
5. Gulati P, Jain P, Smith ML, Kerr E, Muthusami P, Shroff M, Whitney R, Snead III OC, Go C. Reliability and safety of Etomidate speech test in children with drug resistant focal epilepsy. Epilepsy Research 2019 Oct; 156: 106150.