Dr. Mahgoub Adam Salih

Dr. Mahgoub Adam Salih is a consultant paediatric neurologist at Soba University Hospital in Khartoum — one of Sudan's major university teaching hospitals and affiliated with the University of Khartoum's Faculty of Medicine. He is among the small number of subspecialty-trained paediatric neurologists practising in Sudan, bringing a depth of expertise in childhood neurological conditions that is rare not just in Sudan but across the wider sub-Saharan African region.

Sudan's paediatric neurology burden is substantial. Epilepsy is highly prevalent — estimates suggest that epilepsy affects a higher proportion of children in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income settings, partly due to higher rates of birth asphyxia, meningitis, and other neurological insults early in life. Cerebral palsy is common, resulting from perinatal complications in a maternity system that still faces significant quality gaps. Bacterial meningitis — particularly meningococcal and pneumococcal — causes preventable childhood neurological disability when treatment is delayed, which is a frequent occurrence in rural areas where children only reach a specialist centre after prolonged illness.

Dr. Adam Salih's fellowship training in the United Kingdom gave him access to the full range of modern paediatric neurology investigation and treatment, which he has applied and adapted throughout his 19-year career at Soba University Hospital. He runs one of Khartoum's most active paediatric neurology clinics, managing epilepsy, cerebral palsy, neurodevelopmental disorders, and neuromuscular disease, and he is a recognised authority within Sudan's paediatric medical community.

Dr. Adam Salih completed his MBBSc at the University of Khartoum, graduating with distinction before undertaking his postgraduate medical doctorate (MD Paediatrics) at the same institution. His MD research focused on the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of childhood epilepsy in Khartoum — an area that would define his subsequent specialist practice.

Recognising the importance of subspecialty training not yet fully established in Sudan, he pursued a fellowship in paediatric neurology in the United Kingdom, where he trained at a children's hospital that offered the full scope of modern paediatric neurology practice: EEG and video EEG, neuroimaging, lumbar puncture, nerve conduction studies, and the pharmacological management of the full range of epilepsy syndromes in children. This fellowship exposed him to evidence-based epilepsy management using the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) classification framework, to neurodevelopmental assessment tools, and to multidisciplinary team approaches to cerebral palsy and neuromuscular disease — models he has sought to implement in adapted form at Soba University Hospital.

Since returning to Khartoum, Dr. Adam Salih has been a staff consultant and academic at Soba University Hospital, contributing to the training of paediatric residents and registrars in clinical neurology. He is a fellow of the Sudan Paediatric Society and a member of the international Child Neurology Society, through which he maintains engagement with the global paediatric neurology literature and community.

Dr. Adam Salih's clinical expertise is centred on the diagnosis and long-term management of childhood neurological conditions. Epilepsy is his highest-volume subspecialty: he manages children with all common epilepsy syndromes — including febrile seizures, childhood absence epilepsy, juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, and neonatal seizures — using antiepileptic drug regimens titrated to efficacy and tolerability. He performs and interprets EEG, which he uses to classify epilepsy syndromes, identify subclinical seizure activity, and guide treatment decisions.

Cerebral palsy constitutes the other major pillar of his practice. He provides comprehensive assessments of motor function, spasticity, and associated co-morbidities (epilepsy, cognitive impairment, communication difficulties) in children with cerebral palsy, and coordinates management plans involving physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and where available, botulinum toxin therapy for spasticity management. He advocates strongly for multidisciplinary team care for children with cerebral palsy, recognising that neurological management alone is insufficient.

In the investigation of meningitis and encephalitis, Dr. Adam Salih performs and interprets diagnostic lumbar punctures and manages the neurological sequelae of children who survive acute CNS infection — including post-infectious epilepsy, cognitive impairment, and hearing loss. He evaluates children with developmental delay and autism spectrum disorder using standardised assessment tools, guiding families on diagnosis, management, and educational planning. He also manages neuromuscular diseases including Duchenne muscular dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), where he works with the limited treatment infrastructure available in Sudan and advises families on disease course and supportive care.

Dr. Adam Salih has a productive publication record by the standards of sub-Saharan African paediatric neurology. His MD research on childhood epilepsy epidemiology in Khartoum was published in the Sudan Medical Journal and has been cited in regional reviews of epilepsy burden in Africa. He has subsequently published on the clinical characteristics of bacterial meningitis outcomes in Sudanese children, the prevalence and aetiology of cerebral palsy in Khartoum, and the management of epilepsy in resource-limited settings.

He has contributed chapters to a regional textbook on paediatric neurology in Africa and has presented at International Child Neurology Association (ICNA) congresses, where he has shared data from Sudan on epilepsy case-load characteristics, treatment gaps, and antiepileptic drug availability challenges. He serves on the editorial board of an East African paediatric medicine journal and is an active reviewer for international neurology publications.

Dr. Adam Salih is the most cited Sudanese paediatric neurologist in international literature, a reflection of his sustained commitment to generating locally relevant evidence. He is engaged in an ongoing collaborative study with the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) African Commission examining treatment gaps and epilepsy management quality across selected African countries including Sudan.

Soba University Hospital offers paediatric neurology services that are among the most developed available in sub-Saharan Africa, and Dr. Adam Salih regularly sees children referred from neighbouring countries — South Sudan, Chad, Eritrea, and Ethiopia — where paediatric neurology is unavailable. For families travelling from these countries to Khartoum for specialist paediatric neurological assessment, Dr. Adam Salih provides comprehensive consultation, EEG, developmental assessment, and a management plan that can be implemented in their home country with locally available medicines.

For Sudanese diaspora families living in the UK, Gulf states, North America, or elsewhere, Dr. Adam Salih offers video consultations to review clinical history, previous investigations, and current treatment of children with epilepsy or other neurological conditions. He can advise on drug titration, interpretation of investigations, and whether in-person assessment in Khartoum would add diagnostic or management value. He provides written consultation reports in both Arabic and English, facilitating communication with local paediatric neurologists or general paediatricians in the families' country of residence.

Dr. Adam Salih has been recognised by the Sudan Paediatric Society with its annual award for contributions to paediatric research, acknowledging his body of published work on childhood epilepsy and cerebral palsy in Sudan. He was invited to give the keynote address at the Sudan Paediatric Society's annual conference on the subject of epilepsy management in Africa — a distinction that reflects his standing within the national paediatric community.

Internationally, he has been acknowledged by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) African Commission for his contributions to epilepsy research in Sudan, and his work has been cited in ILAE reports on treatment gaps in African countries. The Child Neurology Society has featured his research in its newsletter as an example of paediatric neurology clinical research conducted in resource-limited settings. Dr. Adam Salih considers the training of the next generation of Sudanese paediatric neurologists — the residents and registrars who have passed through Soba University Hospital's neurology service — as his most lasting professional contribution.