Department of Neurology

Georg Dahl, M.D.

Georg was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia.  He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and then returned to his hometown to attend Eastern Virginia Medical School.  Georg then completed a pediatric residency at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Virginia and served as a General Pediatrician in the Navy for 4 years before coming to Vanderbilt for training in Child Neurology.   When he is not at work, he enjoys cooking for his wife and 3 boys and cheering on UVA in both football and basketball.  After completing his training at Vanderbilt, Georg will return to active duty in the Navy as a Child Neurologist.

Dayna Perkowski, M.D. 

Dayna’s interest in child neurology started through volunteering in her mother's special education preschool classroom, where she met children with conditions including ataxia-telangiectasia, fragile X syndrome, autism and fetal alcohol syndrome.  Following completion of her undergradute degree in biomedical engineering from Duke University, Dayna spent a year at the National Institutes of Health in an engineering consultant role where she learned that, while she loved building and breaking things, she does not love sitting alone in a windowless lab for hours on end.  Thus motivated to apply to medical school, she attended the University of Virginia School of Medicine and was introduced to the fields of child neurology and bioethics.  She relocated to Nashville in 2008 to complete residencies in pediatrics and child neurology.  Following completion of residency this summer she will complete her fellowship in neurophysiology at Vanderbilt.  Dayna has been married to her high school sweetheart for 8 years, and they are the proud parents of two handsome and extremely energetic sons.  When she is not at work or chasing after her rugrats, she enjoys gardening, painting, photography and ballet.

 Inan Olmez, M.D.

Inan Olmez was born and raised in Turkey. He completed his medical education at Hacettepe University, Turkey. His clinical interest is primary and metastatic brain tumors. After graduation, he will continue his career in a neuro-oncology fellowship program. During his child neurology residency, he has been involved in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) based research. His main research interest is cancer stem cells and utilizing iPSCs for cancer therapy.
He is married to Tomomi, a dedicated Japanese woman. They have a 15-month old daughter, named Mine, which means beautiful song in Japanese. Coincidentally, she was born in Nashville, music city! Inan enjoys his time with his family shopping, eating outside, watching movie and playing with his daughter. His other activities include soccer (he broke his arm last year during a game), hiking and art. He follows global economy and relations closely.

Lindsay Pagano, M.D.

Lindsay’s hometown is Richmond, Virginia, and she pursued her undergraduate and medical school training in Virginia as well, at the College of William and Mary and Eastern Virginia Medical School, respectively. She moved out to Nashville for both her Pediatrics training and her Child Neurology residency, and has loved her experience! Her professional interests are multiple, and include epilepsy, critical care neurology and neonatal neurology; she will likely pursue an epilepsy fellowship and an eventual career in academics. In Nashville, she can be found taking advantage of the amazing music scene, hiking, being on the water, or exploring all of the new experiences the city has to offer!

Michael Babcock, M.D.

Michael Babcock grew up in South Carolina.  He majored in biomedical engineering at Duke and earned his medical degree from MUSC.  He completed his pediatric preliminary years at Vanderbilt.  His clinical interests include epilepsy and headache.  He is still undecided on his post-graduate plans.  Michael enjoys watching Duke basketball and finding new Nashville restaurants.  He lives with his fiancee, Liz, and his cat, Kiki.

Shilpa Reddy, M.D.

Shilpa grew up in the midwest and spent most of her childhood in Iowa, and then went to the University of Michigan for undergraduate school (GO BLUE!). She went back home for medical school and attended the University of Iowa. After pursuing a Biopsychology degree at Michigan, she realized she liked learning about the brain and knew early on during medical school she wanted to study Neurology. She has loved living in Nashville, and she continues to learn more about things she loves in her third year at Vanderbilt (like eating at all the new "hip and trendy" restaurants and participating in lots of free wine tastings around the city).  Besides eating and drinking, she loves dancing and watching lots of bad TV.  She recently got married, and she and Kevin quickly added a cute little puppy to their family who has been both mischievous and fun!

Whitney Boon, M.D.

Whitney is originally from Maryland and grew up in Prince George's County, although she has had a variety of adventures living in places from Massachusetts to Arkansas. She is a proud alumna of Brown University where she studied psychology. While at Brown, she met her partner, Freddie O'Connell, a native of Nashville. He introduced her to Music City, where she ultimately completed her M.D. at Meharry Medical College. While finishing medical school, she welcomed a daughter, Halley, into the world. Whitney is thrilled to be a part of Vanderbilt's five-year training program in pediatrics and child neurology. Because all work and no play would make Whitney dull, she can also be found hiking and cycling the Cumberland Plateau, catching a show at the Belcourt, reading a good book, preparing a vegetarian meal, and, especially, playing with Halley.

Jessica Sheah, M.D.

Jessica was born in Maryland, but spent most of her childhood years in Orlando. She studied the history of science and medicine at Yale University for undergrad and was on their varsity gymnastics team. She went to Florida State for medical school and met her husband in Tallahassee. Outside of medicine, Jessica enjoys almost all outdoor activities with her husband and their dog, but rock climbing is her favorite.

Ngoc Hanh Vu, M.D.

Hanh was born in Vietnam and spent most of her childhood there. "Vietnam is a beautiful, dynamic, yet impoverished place that helps to shape my interest in a career in Pediatrics and my interest in international health," she said. Hanh graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Biology and Biopsychology. Her interest in the brain took root during summer research at Emory University during undergraduate studies. She attended the Medical College of Georgia for medical school, where she made countless memories, including great friends and an amazing trip to Peru! (Making it the second man-made Wonder of the World she has been able to visit, with a goal of seeing all seven!) Besides a love for travel, she loves spending time with family, shopping excursions to Anthropologie, running, painting, and listening to music.

Pinar Polat, M.D.

Pinar was born in Ankara, Turkey. When she was one year old, her family moved to Trinidad, and so started their global adventures! She later lived in Guatemala, Belgium and Norway. Eventually, her family settled down in South Florida where she attended middle and high school. After nine years of sunshine, humidity, and palm trees, she was eager to explore something different. She moved north to Baltimore and received her undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from the Johns Hopkins University. She later pursued her MPH in global health at the George Washington University and went on to work as a public health programmer for an international development organization in Washington, D.C. After five years of work in global health she moved to Norfolk, VA where she attended Eastern Virginia Medical School. She loves exploring the wonderful city of Nashville. Pinar is passionate about Zumba, Yoga, and any type of outdoor activity. She also loves to explore, cook, dote on her plants, and spend time with her cat, Goshi.

Emily Doll, M.D.

Born and raised in Downers Grove, Illinois, Emily moved to Delaware to pursue her undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of Delaware and decided to stay on the East Coast working in Pennsylvania as a behavioral therapist. Her work with children in behavioral therapy inspired her to go to medical school to become a Child Neurologist, which she completed in Chicago at Rush Medical College. Emily is more than excited to begin her pediatrics and child neurology training in Nashville and plans to continue to engage in some of her favorite activities in her free time: traveling, theatre, jogging, reading, waterskiing and hosting game nights!

Emily Gantz, D.O.

Emily grew up in Colleyville, Texas, located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  After high school, she received her undergraduate bachelor’s degree in zoology-biomedical sciences from the University of Oklahoma.  She then returned back to Fort Worth, Texas for medical school at the University of North Texas Health Science Center.  Emily is excited to live in Nashville and to be a part of the five-year residency training program in pediatrics and child neurology. Outside of medicine, she spends her time with friends and family and enjoys running outdoors.  She completed a couple of half-marathons during medical school.   Emily also loves to travel, most recently to Zambia and Malawi, Africa.

Katy Lalor, M.D.

Katy was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama where she lived until she moved to Nashville to go to college at Vanderbilt University where she majored in Biomedical Engineering and became an avid Commodores fan.  She returned to Alabama for medical school at the University of South Alabama in Mobile.  She loved being by the water but was thrilled to be returning back to Vanderbilt to pursue her dreams of becoming a Child Neurologist which she has known she wanted to do since she was 15.  In her free time Katy loves to sail, cook and eat new foods, bake (her favorite stress reliever), watch SEC football and baseball (especially if it’s the Dores), and travel.