Richard Stevenson, MD, is a Neurodevelopmental Pediatrician from Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He completed general pediatrics training at the University of Virginia and a fellowship in Developmental Disabilities at the University of Iowa. He is board certified in neurodevelopmental disabilities.
Dr. Stevenson is Professor of Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (NDBP) at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He is active in clinical care, education, and research. He cares for children and youth across the range of acquired and congenital disabilities: brain injury, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, autism, developmental delay, feeding disorders, ADHD, and genetic neurodevelopmental disorders. His main interest and expertise relate to the care of children with cerebral palsy. He served as Chair of the UVA IRB for Health Sciences Research for 12 years (2009-2021), and he was Division Head of NDBP from 2011 to 2023. Dr. Stevenson is past president of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM). He co-edited a book (2018) Children and Youth with Complex Cerebral Palsy: Care and Management, aimed at primary care practitioners.
Dr. Stevenson’s primary research has focused on growth, nutrition and nutrition assessment in children with cerebral palsy. His efforts have been directed toward determining how malnutrition affects the health, functional abilities, social participation, and quality of life of children with cerebral palsy and their families. He was the principal investigator of the North American Growth in Cerebral Palsy Project, a multi-center, region-based study of growth and nutritional status. He received an NIH Career Development Award (K-24) geared toward the development and implementation of clinical trials to enhance the health, function, and quality of life of children with cerebral palsy. He has also been involved in clinical trials in children with CP including a pharmaceutical for the treatment of drooling and the NICHD-sponsored Baclofen Efficacy and Safety Trials. He was co-investigator on a NIH-funded trial of early intensive physical therapy (SPEEDi) in pre-term infants at high risk for cerebral palsy, and was co-PI on a completed NICHD funded multicenter, randomized controlled trial of constraint-induced movement therapy in young children with unilateral cerebral palsy. He is a founding member of the Cerebral Palsy Research Network (CPRN), established in 2015, and his current focus within CPRN relates to the evaluation of growth and nutritional status in children and young adults with CP and how nutrition impacts on health outcomes and quality of life.
