The American Epilepsy Society Announces Fellowship Award Recipients for 2015

Newswise — West Hartford, Conn., February 19, 2015 – The American Epilepsy Society (AES) has released its list of new fellowship awardees, naming 14 recipients for the organization’s early-career awards. The fellowship recipients come from academic institutions and medical schools throughout the U.S. and include clinicians and basic scientists who are focused on many different components of epilepsy treatment and research. The winners were selected from a competitive pool of applicants. This year’s winners will receive funding for one year.

The AES provides more than $700,000 to support research training grants for clinicians, research grants and pre- and post-doctoral research and training fellowships. Each year, AES clinical and basic science fellowship awardees are selected for their novel approaches to epilepsy care and research innovations that can help lead to new therapies and increase the understanding of epilepsy.

“Each year awardees bring new ideas and innovation to help increase our understanding of epilepsy and we are excited to see what 2015 will bring,” said Kimford Meador, M.D., 2014 chair of the AES Research & Training Council. “AES’s commitment to funding young researchers at this critical stage in their career development helps assure that we will continue to have the best minds working in the field in coming years.”

The fellowship recipients and their areas of study include:

• Armen Abramain, Stanford UniversitySecretion of endozepines: Helping the brain help itself control seizures

• Lindsey Gano, University of Colorado, DenverSirtuin 3 Dysregulation in Epileptogenesis

• Sudhir Sivakumaran, Tufts UniversityRole of chloride plasticity in seizure progression and pharmacoresistance

• Ukpong Eyo, Rutgers UniversityNeuroprotective Functions of Microglial P2Y12 Receptors in Seizures

• Donald Joseph, The Children’s Hospital of PhiladelphiaThe Aristaless homeobox transcription factor is PV cell Maturation

• Isabella Ferando, University of California, Los AngelesSilencing epileptogenic circuits during the latent phase of epilepsy

• Balu Krishnan, Cleveland Clinic FoundationNoninvasive Focus Localization via Connectivity Analysis of Interictal Data

• Andrew Hooper, Tufts UniversityThe Role of Hippocampal CRH Neurons in Stress and Seizure Susceptibility• Stephanie Villalba, LSU Health Sciences CenterPharmacogenetic Interactions in the Kcna1-null Mouse Model of SUDEP

• Dipankumar Patel, University of UtahRole of TNFa System in Causing Hyperexcitation in hippocampus

• Christos Papadelis, Boston Children’s HospitalPropagation of high frequency oscillations as biomarker of epilepsy

• Jacqueline Burre, Weill Medical College of Cornell UniversityDysfunction of STXBP1 in infantile epileptic encephalopathies

• Patrick Forcelli, Georgetown UniversityOptogenetic control of seizures via superior colliculus

• Kristina Julich, Children’s Hospital BostonMolecular Markers in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex

The AES fellowship awards are funded by AES, with additional contributions from AES members and corporate donations and grants to AES from Eisai, Cyberonics and Nihon Kohden. Additional fellowships are supported by the AES Lennox & Lombroso Fund endowment.

About the American Epilepsy Society (AES)The American Epilepsy Society (AES) is the largest and most active non-profit medical and scientific society devoted to issues surrounding the epilepsies. Our individual members are professionals engaged in both research and clinical care for people with epilepsy from private practice, academia and government. For more than 75 years, AES has been unlocking the potential of the clinical and research community by creating a dynamic global forum where professionals can share, learn and grow. AES champions the use of sound science and clinical care through the exchange of knowledge, by providing education and by furthering the advancement of the profession.