Christopher M McGraw

Christopher M McGraw, MD, PhD, serves as Assistant Professor in Neurology (Epilepsy/Clinical Neurophysiology) at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, with clinical practice at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Education:

• PhD: Baylor College of Medicine (2012)
• MD: Baylor College of Medicine (2014)
• Residency: UC San Francisco (2018)
• Fellowship: Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School (2020)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship: Boston Children's Hospital, Epilepsy Genetics (2020)

His research investigates molecular mechanisms of refractory seizure disorders through cross-species approaches combining human genetics with zebrafish and mouse models. Key methodologies include electrophysiology, calcium fluorescence imaging, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, and computational analysis of seizure dynamics. Primary focus areas encompass genetic epilepsy modifiers, NORSE pathophysiology, quantitative EEG biomarkers, and functional validation of pathogenic variants.

Recent publications demonstrate integration of machine learning with high-throughput zebrafish screening, natural language processing of clinical epilepsy notes, and large-scale genomic studies. These works bridge neurogenetics, computational neuroscience, and pharmacology to identify novel therapeutic targets and improve seizure management metrics.

Scientific Awards:

• K08 Career Development Award, NIH/NINDS (2020)
• Taking Flight Award, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (2019)

Dr. McGraw leads an NIH-funded research program focusing on SCN1A, SLC6A1, and CDKL5-related epilepsies. He serves on the Coalition to Cure CHD2 Scientific Advisory Board and collaborates with Northwestern's Center for Genetic Medicine. His clinical work informs translational research on refractory status epilepticus and precision epilepsy therapies.

The McGraw Lab employs chemical seizure models (PTZ, organophosphates) alongside genetic models to study inter-regional brain dynamics using GCaMP6s calcium imaging. Current projects combine whole-organism screening with single-neuron analysis to develop functional assays for variant pathogenicity assessment and anti-seizure compound discovery.