Youssef A. Kousa, M.S., D.O., Ph.D., is a physician-scientist specializing in neonatal neurology at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. During his pediatric internship, he founded an international, trans-disciplinary research team, the Zika Genetics Consortium, to study the 2015 Zika virus pandemic and model human genetic modifiers in neuroinfectious diseases and neurodevelopmental disorders. Their goal is disease prevention by integrating and leveraging team science, systems biology and genomics. Dr. Kousa is the Principal Investigator of the Consortium, which now includes 19 co-investigators representing 13 different institutions. Partnering with the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Consortium is bringing together mother-infant dyad cohorts with 12,000 participants throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Dr. Kousa completed a combined pediatrics and child neurology residency at Children’s National and the D.O.-Ph.D. Physician Scientist Training Program at Michigan State University. Through graduate and post-graduate research training, he has focused on human genetics, genetic engineering, developmental biology, immunology and virology. His accomplishments include creation of an adenovirus-based malaria vaccine, discovery of a conserved gene regulatory network in craniofacial and neural tube development, 30 peer-reviewed publications, and multiple national and international invited research presentations. His awards and honors span academic, research, service and leadership roles, including the highest honors possible at Michigan State University for a graduate and medical student. Dr. Kousa directs the Perinatal Neuroinfections Clinic at Children’s National and is an Instructor in Neurology, Pediatrics, & Genomics, and Precision Medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C.
Learn more about the Zika Genetics Consortium.
Publications
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