Jo Wilmshurst
Current Office: Secretary of the ICNA (2010-2014)
Current Post:  Head of Paediatric Neurology and Neurophysiology, Red Cross  Children’s Hospital; and Associate Professor, School of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

Institution/Location	Degree (if applicable)	Year(s)	Field of study
University of Cape Town	Doctor of Medicine	2009	Paediatrics ((Peripheral Neuropathies in Childhood)
Health Professions Council of SA	Sub-speciality accreditation	2002	Paediatric Neurology
College of Medicine of SA	Fellowship of College of Paediatricians	2000	Paediatrics
The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia	Novartis Epilepsy Fellowship	1999-2000	Neurophysiology
The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia	Peel Trust Travelling Fellowship	1999-2000	Peripheral Neuropathy
Guy's Hospital, King's College Hospital	CCST (UK) sub-specialist training	1996-1999	Paediatric Neurology
Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, Guy's Hospital	Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training	1994-1996	Paediatrics
Royal College of Physicians, London	MRCP	1994	Paediatrics
Guy's Hospital, London	MBBS	1984-1989	Medicine

Jo Wilmshurst is Head of Paediatric Neurology and Neurophysiology at Red Cross Children’s Hospital, the largest children’s hospital in sub-Saharan Africa. This tertiary hospital is the academic paediatric training platform for the University of Cape Town and runs a nationally accredited sub-speciality training program in paediatric neurology. Her department handles a wide spectrum of neurological diseases common to children from resource-poor countries and functions as the sub-Saharan referral centre for neuromuscular disease and complex epilepsy.

Her areas of research interest include epilepsy in childhood, neurophysiology, neuromuscular disorders, demyelinating diseases, neurocutaneous disorders, neuroinfectious diseases (including HIV and tuberculosis), and issues around access to child neurology health services and paediatric neurology training in Africa. Dr Wilmshurst has published 58 peer-reviewed publications and completed her MD thesis on peripheral neuropathies in children, a subject in which she retains a particular interest.

Dr Wilmshurst also leads an outreach training programme for paediatricians and child health specialists, the African Paediatric Fellowship Program, which is based at the University of Cape Town. The programme identifies and trains paediatricians from African countries who return to their home centres with sub-speciality accreditation, including child neurology and neuro-disability. This rapidly expanding group of alumni will form a vibrant network of accredited child health specialists across Africa.

Dr Wilmshurst is influential in organization of child neurology in Africa through her membership on the executive boards of the Paediatric Neurology & Development Association of Southern Africa (PANDA-SA); and the African Child Neurology Association (ACNA); and as an office-bearer (Education Chair) of the Commission on African Affairs of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE). Her work for these associations has focused on development of child neurology education and training initiatives for resource-poor countries.

She is also an active organizer and advocate for child neurology in the global health context, as current Secretary of the ICNA (2010-2014); and as a member of the Commission on Paediatrics of the ILAE. She is Chair of the Task Force for establishment of infantile seizure guidelines of the ILAE Commission on Paediatrics and co-Chair of the ILAE Guidelines Task Force.

Dr Wilmshurst is married to Dr Mark Hatherill, an expert in Tuberculosis Vaccinology, and tolerance. The couple successfully reached the top of Kilimanjaro without confrontation, in 2011. She has 2 daughters aged 5 and 11, one will become an actress and the other would like to run a pet poodle parlour. The family have one dog, an Australian Shepherd Dog with ADHD.