Shafali Jeste, MD

Dr. Jeste is a behavioral child neurologist specializing in autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders. She is Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology at the USC Keck School of Medicine, and the Las Madrinas Chair, Chief of Neurology and Co-Director of the Neurological Institute at CHLA. After earning a BA in philosophy from Yale University in 1997 and her MD from Harvard Medical School in 2002, Dr. Jeste completed a residency in child neurology and a fellowship in behavioral child neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital. She joined the faculty at UCLA in 2010 and then moved to chief of neurology.

Dr. Jeste’s research is focused on developing methods to improve precision in the diagnosis and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders, with particular focus on the development of brain-based biomarkers. Her lab studies neurodevelopmental disorders from early infancy through late childhood. Dr. Jeste has designed innovative studies in early predictors of autism in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) that integrate biomarkers with behavior to define atypical development prior to the onset of autism. This work in TSC has led to the first randomized controlled clinical trial of behavioral intervention for these infants and has paved the way for other early intervention trials in rare genetic syndromes. She also has led initiatives in clinical trial readiness for neurodevelopmental disorders more broadly, both in genetic syndromes and in non-syndromic autism through the national Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials.

She has published more than 150 peer reviewed manuscripts over her career, many in high impact journals such as JAMA and Neurology. Dr. Jeste’s research is directly inspired by her clinical work, and she continues to prioritize excellence in clinical care of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities. At UCLA she developed the Care and Research in Neurogenetic Syndromes (CARING) clinical program, and at CHLA the KiNDD (Kids with Neurogenetic and Developmental Disabilities) clinical program, each of which provides multidisciplinary evaluations and care for children with NDDs. Last year, Dr. Jeste launched an NDD fellowship at CHLA, one of only three in the country. Dr. Jeste’s work is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the Angelman Syndrome Foundation, the Dup15q Alliance, and the Simons Foundation. She holds several national and international leadership positions including the Board of Directors of the National Organization for Rare Disorders and Board of Directors of the TSC Alliance, and she recently served as the Chair of the International Baby Siblings Research Consortium. In the broader landscape of Pediatrics, Dr. Jeste recently has served on two National Academies of Science and Medicine committees, the first focused on the Pediatric workforce and the second on the landscape of Pediatric research. In 2019 she was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for her innovations in research in early predictors and intervention for genetic neurodevelopmental disorders. In 2024 she received the Child Neurology Society Martha Bridge Denckla Award, a career achievement award for contributions made to the field of neurodevelopmental disorders. In her spare time, Dr. Jeste is often found at the side of a tennis court, cheering on her teenage sons, Nischal and Kiran, who are national tennis players. She loves to run and has run three marathons (Boston, LA and NYC), with plans for a fourth (Philly!) this fall.