40 Under 40 - 2024

As a neurologist specializing in pediatric sleep medicine, Dr. Anne Marie Morse said she seeks to collaborate with patients on care.

“One of my main mantras, when I'm speaking with my patients, is explaining that my expertise resides in diagnoses, treatments and tests, and their expertise is in their own lives,” she said. “Together, we have to combine expertise to optimize the outcomes, however they define them.”

She credits her passion for personalized neurological services to her mother Judy’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis. After a doctor's visit left Judy feeling dismissed, she avoided seeing a neurologist for 20 years, Morse said. In the meantime, she suffered multiple flare-ups and needed to use a wheelchair.

Since Morse became the director of child neurology at Geisinger in 2018, the number of providers at the department has tripled to 15. She also founded and directs the Danville, Pennsylvania-based nonprofit’s department of pediatric sleep medicine. Thanks in part to her efforts last year, children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy can receive gene therapy treatment at Geisinger.

Morse's expertise means she's frequently asked to attend or speak at conferences. Whether at events or the hospital, Morse said she is known for wearing high heels affixed with butterfly wings.

The footwear represents "a measure of respect for the people that [I'm] interacting with,” Morse said. “I’m always in high heels, even when I'm on call. Most people recognize me by that."

—Nona Tepper