Please join us in congratulating Dr. Courtney L. Robertson on her promotion to Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The promotion recognizes her remarkable contributions as a clinician-scientist, educator, and leader in pediatric neurocritical care and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Dr. Robertson graduated from the University of Texas Medical Branch in 1993, completed her pediatric residency at the University of North Carolina, and trained in pediatric critical care medicine at the University of Pittsburgh/Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, where she was also a research fellow at the Safar Center for Resuscitation Medicine. She joined the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1999 as Assistant Professor in Pediatric Critical Care and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2009. Since joining our department in 2009, she has built an independent, NIH- and DoD-funded basic science program, made foundational discoveries in mitochondrial dysfunction and sex differences in pediatric TBI, and led translationally relevant preclinical work that will shape future studies in the field. She has also led landmark multicenter clinical studies, including the GCS Neuro-COVID study (the first to describe the neurological complications of COVID-19 in children) and the ADAPT study, the largest of its kind in pediatric TBI.

Beyond her research, Dr. Robertson has been a transformative force in program building and mentorship. As Co-Director of the Pediatric Neurocritical Care Program at the Bloomberg Children’s Center, she helped create a nationally recognized multidisciplinary care model since adopted by peer institutions. She co-established and directed the pediatric neurocritical care fellowship, has mentored trainees and junior faculty across career stages, and has championed diversity and inclusion through her leadership in organizations such as the National Neurotrauma Society, where she served as President from 2021 to 2022. She is also a founding member of the Pediatric Neurocritical Care Research Group, serving as Chair from 2016 to 2018 and growing the PNCRG into an incorporated multi-national organization with >400 members.

Dr. Robertson’s promotion reflects her exceptional dedication to improving outcomes for neurologically injured children through groundbreaking science, outstanding clinical care, and the cultivation of the next generation of leaders in our field. Please join the department in celebrating this well-deserved recognition.