FNDamentals: Evaluation, Treatment, & Discussions
At the end of this presentation, participants should be able to:
- Identify the components of multidisciplinary evaluation and treatment
- Identify 2-3 ways to improve communication to pediatric patients with FND and their families
- How to frame talking about FND with patients, families and providers
- How to weave organic symptoms and FND symptoms together
About the presenters:
Paola Genovese, MD
Phoenix Children's
Paola Genovese, MD, is a pediatrician dedicated to making the lives of children more comfortable. In addition to general pediatrics, she specializes in Pain Medicine as well as Hospice and Palliative Care.
Dr. Genovese earned her medical degree from the Universidad Nacional de Asuncion in Asuncion, Paraguay. After moving to the US, she completed her pediatric residency at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland. She then completed a Pediatric Pain fellowship at Seattle Children's Hospital in Seattle, Washington and a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Care medicine at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.
Holding board certifications in General Pediatrics, Pain Medicine, Palliative care and Hospice care, Dr. Genovese provides well-rounded, comprehensive care to her patients. She is also trained and skilled in Acupuncture, Craniosacral therapy, Visceral Manipulation and Neuro-meningeal Manipulation.
Dr. Genovese is actively involved in research to improve quality of care in the fields of Pediatric Pain Medicine, Hospice and Palliative Care.
South American-born with Italian roots, Dr. Genovese began her career as a pediatrician in an underdeveloped country. There, she learned the importance of combining sharp clinical skills with the gentleness of human contact to maximize patient care.
When she moved to the United States, Dr. Genovese trained at different hospitals throughout the country. These experiences provided different perspectives that she believes help her to improve patient care. She is passionate about helping to make her patients' days, and hopefully their futures, brighter.
Simran Kahlon, MD
Phoenix Children's
Simran Kahlon, MD, has extensive training in general and autoimmune neurology, as well as in diagnosing and treating pediatric movement disorders.
After graduating with her bachelor's degree in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Dr. Kahlon earned her medical degree at California Northstate University College of Medicine in Elk Grove, California. She completed her residency training in child neurology at Barrow Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children's.
Dr. Kahlon is board certified in neurology with special qualifications in child neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She is also a member of the American Academy of Neurology, the Child Neurology Society and the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
In her free time, Dr. Kahlon enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband and family. She stays active through running, Pilates and yoga.
Zorash Montano, PhD
Phoenix Children's
Dr. Montano is a licensed clinical psychologist who is part of the Consultation-Liaison (C-L) team at Phoenix Children’s. She is a native Spanish-speaker. She completed her doctoral degree at Arizona State University, her clinical internship at Boston Children’s Hospital, and her post-doctoral fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Dr. Montano has been at Phoenix Children’s since 2020. She has become passionate about working with patients with functional neurological disorder (FND) through her work on the C-L team. Through this interest, she collaborated with stakeholders across the hospital to create an FND Clinical Guideline to guide and standardize the care we provide to patients with FND. Additionally, she has delivered multiple didactics and talks on FND across the hospital.
Dr. Montano is also actively involved in the training program in the Division of Psychology. She supervises interns and fellows during their C-L rotations. At the state level, she has been an active member of the Arizona Psychological Association serving as the Early Career Psychologists representative since 2021.
Arie Zakaryan, PhD
Phoenix Children's
Dr. Zakaryan is a licensed clinical psychologist with specializing in Pediatric Pain Management. He is trilingual in English, Spanish and Armenian. He joined Phoenix Children’s in 2017 and clinically focuses on treating youth with chronic pain along with their families. Dr. Zakaryan also partners with Phoenix Children's Pain Physician Dr. Genovese and the multiple Phoenix Children's pain-focused physical therapists to help run the Weekly Rehabilitation and Pain Program (WRAPP) for adolescents suffering from chronic pain in the Mercy-Gilbert and Thomas Campus clinics. He also is the Site Director for the Comfort Ability Program (CAP) workshops at Phoenix Children's.
Dr. Zakaryan has a fervent passion for training across levels: graduate students, pre-doctoral interns, and post-doctoral fellows. Currently he is the Training Director for the internship and practicum programs in the Division of Psychology. Along with Dr. Arnold, Director of the Fellowship Program, they were selected as 1 of 15 pediatric psychology training programs to participate in a culturally-responsive supervision training series by the Society of Pediatric Psychology.
In his service work, Dr. Zakaryan is President-Elect for the Arizona Psychological Association. He has become progressively energized about advocacy and bringing an increasingly intersectional and equity-based lens to all aspects of his life and career, across patients, training, AzPA, or daily interactions.