Dr. Rachel P. Pearson, Director of Brain Injury Medicine

Dr. Rachel Pearson is a board certified pediatric neurologist at CHOC Hospital in Orange, CA. As an expert in pediatric neurology, Dr. Pearson cares for babies, kids and teens with a wide variety of neurologic conditions. She specializes in concussion/traumatic brain injury, stroke, headache disorders, epilepsy, tic disorders and developmental delay.

Dr. Pearson serves as director of brain injury medicine. In this role, she is medical director for CHOC’s Concussion Program and the Comprehensive Pediatric Stroke Program. She is also the assistant director of the Pediatric Neurology Residency Program.

Dr. Pearson’s research interests include pediatric stroke and concussion. Her research has been published in the Journal of Child Neurology and presented at the International Neurotrauma Symposium and Child Neurology Society.

“I strongly believe in caring for the whole patient, not just treating their disease. To this end, I do my best to understand the goals and values of my patients and their families and incorporate this into a broad care plan that aims to optimize their quality of life and help them reach their full potential.”

Location

CHOC Specialists, Neurology
505 S. Main St.
Orange, CA 92868
phone: 714-509-7601
fax: 855-246-2329

Education

• Medical School
  Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
• Residency
  Pediatric Neurology UC-Irvine, Irvine, CA/CHOC Hospital, Orange, CA
• Fellowship
  Sports Neurology and Neurotrauma Fellowship at UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program, Los Angeles, CA

Research Papers – Peer Reviewed

Patterson RP, Roedl JK, Farrell MH: Internet searching after parents receive abnormal newborn screening results. Journal of Communication in Healthcare: Strategies, Media and Engagement in Global Health. 2015; 8(4): 303-315. DOI: 1179/1753807615Y.0000000007

Pearson R, Levyim D, Choe M, Taraman S, Langdon R. Survey of Child Neurologists on Management of Pediatric Post-traumatic Headache. Journal of Child Neurology. 2019; 34(12): 739-747. DOI: 10.1177/0883073819856837. PMID: 31232148

Pearson RP, Hoang LK, Roufail J, Muhonen MG, Galion AW. Baclofen toxicity mimicking brain death: a case report of a pediatric patient. Pediatric Emergency Care. 2021; 37(3): e141-e146.

Pearson R, Sheridan CA, Kang K, et al. Post-Concussive Orthostatic Tachycardia is Distinct from Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) in Children and Adolescents. Child Neurology Open. 2022. doi:10.1177/2329048X221082753

Surtees TL, Pearson R, Harrar DB, et al. Acute Hospital Management of Pediatric Stroke. Seminars in Pediatric Neurology. 2022; 43: 100990. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spen.2022.100990.

Heyming T, Knudsen-Robbins C, Schomberg J, Hayakawa J, Lara B, Bacon K, Valdez B, Wickens M, Shelton SK, Romain J, Wallace E, Taraman S, Loudon W, Pearson R. Evaluation of Quantitative Pupillometry in Acute Postinjury Pediatric Concussion. Pediatric Neurology. 2024 Apr;153:103-112. doi: 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2024.01.016. Epub 2024 Jan 14. PMID: 38367484.

Kung M, Adler-Shohet F, Lai H, Pearson R. Neurological and Neuroimaging Implications of Covid-19 in the Pediatric Population. Journal of Pediatric Neuropsychology. 2024 Feb. https://doi.rg.10.1007/s40817-024-00157-9

Dave R, Arellano J, Grose C, Pearson R. A Case of Recurrent Encephalitis and Stroke following Cessation of Acyclovir Prophylaxis in a Patient with Neonatal HSV and RNF213 Annals of the Child Neurology Society. Published online on 06/27/24. https://doi.org/10.1002/cns3.20079

Baham M, Harris MH, Kong D, Chogle A, Pearson R. Improvement in Persistent Post-Concussive Symptoms After Treatment with Neuromodulation: A Case Study. Journal of Pediatric Neuropsychology. Published online on 11/06/2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40817-024-00176-6

Rogers D, Thompson-Stone R, Ream M, Pearson R, Pagano L, et al. Essential Components of Child Neurology Training: Program Director Consensus Recommendations. Annals of the Child Neurology Society. Published online on 09/17/2025. https://doi.org/10.1002/cns3.70038