Drew Thodeson MD

I’m a neurologist, epileptologist, and clinical neurophysiologist who has spent my career working with individuals and families navigating the complex terrain of neurological differences and disease. My approach is simple: honor the lived experience, listen like it matters (because it does), and bring the full weight of science, empathy, and curiosity to every case.

Training & Foundations

My medical training began at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where I completed residency in Pediatrics, Neurology, and Child Neurology at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Those years taught me how profoundly neurological conditions shape not just one person, but the entire family system.

To deepen my expertise in brain networks and electrical physiology, I completed fellowship training in Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Medical Center Dallas.

I then trained in the Hsieh Lab, where I studied neural stem cells, cortical development, and disease-in-a-dish modeling — work that continues to influence how I think about neurodevelopment, injury, repair, and the brain’s astonishing adaptability.

Clinical Focus

My practice centers on individuals and families affected by:

  • Epilepsy and seizure disorders

  • Functional Neurological Disorder (FND)

  • Complex neurodevelopmental and neurogenetic conditions

  • Neuromuscular disorders

  • Migraine and sensory/light-sensitivity syndromes

  • Concussion and mild traumatic brain injury

  • Chronic symptoms following infections, inflammation, or environmental triggers

Whether the concern is genetic, functional, traumatic, degenerative, or uncertain, my focus remains the same: understand the brain in context — not in isolation.

Research & Innovation

I lead and collaborate on research spanning epilepsy, genomic reinterpretation, neural development, visual neuroscience, and advanced electrophysiology. Recent work includes multi-institutional projects with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and University of Nebraska–Lincoln, exploring how temporal light modulation affects brain networks and contributes to migraine, FND, and sensory dysregulation.

I also continue to study neurophysiological biomarkers (EEG, ERP, QEEG) in mild traumatic brain injury, complex epilepsy, and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Selected Prior Publications

Pubmed publications:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Drew+Thodeson

Why I Founded MBBN

Neurological symptoms rarely exist in a vacuum. They ripple outward — touching identity, family life, school, work, relationships, and quality of life. Too often, the medical system only treats the symptom in front of it, not the human being living with it.

I built MBBN to change that. A place where families aren’t rushed, where complexity isn’t a burden, and where care is personalized, relational, and grounded in the science of how the brain actually works: as a network shaped by biology, stress, environment, and experience.