Epilepsy Research @UVA
History of Epilepsy Research @ UVA
Fritz Dreifuss is largely credited for initiating UVA’s long-standing commitment to epilepsy research. Dreifuss started his storied career at UVA in 1959 and ultimately retired from the university nearly 40 years later, after publishing more than 300 articles. Early in his career, Dreifuss pioneered the use of continuous EEG recordings to measure spike-wave discharges associated with absence epilepsy. He eventually advocated for the now widely accepted practice of using these discharges as an indispensable marker for evaluating the efficacy of anti-absence epilepsy drugs. Indeed, Dreifuss was among the very first epilepsy researchers to study the efficacy of ethosuximide, clonazepam, and valproate—three anti-seizure drugs used commonly today—in the treatment of epilepsy. Among his notable service contributions, Dreifuss served as President of the American Epilepsy Society, Chairman of the Professional Advisory Board of the Epilepsy Foundation of America, and President of the International League Against Epilepsy. Dreifuss trainees include several leaders in epilepsy today, including Robert Macdonald (past president, American Epilepsy Society), Greg Holmes (past president, American Epilepsy Society), and Simon Shorvon (Editor in Chief, Epilepsia).
A second foundational figure in the history of UVA epilepsy research is Eric Lothman. Lothman joined the faculty of UVA in 1983 and ultimately served as UVA’s Chair of Neurology. Despite his death at the age of 48, Lothman’s impact on epilepsy research was profound and still reverberates today. Altogether, he trained 29 pre- and post-doctoral students, some of whom are recognized leaders of epilepsy research today. Notable Lothman trainees include: (1) Edward Bertram, a pioneer clinician-scientist at UVA with expertise in the basic mechanisms of generalized seizures; (2) Scott Baraban, an internationally recognized epilepsy researcher at UCSF who pioneered the use of zebrafish to identify novel anti-seizure drugs; and (3) Jaideep Kapur, the world’s foremost expert on the devastating and often lethal condition of unremitting seizures known as status epilepticus. Lothman continues to be recognized today for his fundamental discoveries regarding the cellular- and circuit-level mechanisms of epilepsy.
UVA’s commitment to epilepsy research continues today. Jaideep Kapur, a Lothman trainee, joined the university’s Neurology Department in 1998 and continues to lead a productive and multifaceted epilepsy research program. Kapur’s research extends from using rodent models to resolve the basic mechanisms of seizure generation, to developing and implementing clinical trials in search of effective treatments for status epilepticus. In addition to leading an NIH-supported comparative study of drugs to treat status epilepticus—an effort that includes 60 sites—Kapur has served as President of the American Epilepsy Society and currently serves as Chair of the Board of the International League Against Epilepsy-North America. He has also served on the editorial boards of many professional journals including Neurology, Annals of Neurology, Experimental Neurology, Epilepsy Research, Epilepsy Currents, and multiple NIH review panels. In 2021, Kapur received the Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award, an award that recognizes investigators with a track record of exceptional and preeminent scientific achievement.
In 2002, Howard Goodkin joined UVA’s team of epilepsy researchers. Goodkin, a clinician-scientist with a specific interest in pediatric epilepsy, currently serves as UVA’s Chair of Neurology and is credited for building UVA Children’s Neurology Care into an internationally recognized program that is among the best in the country. Goodkin serves as the current President of the American Epilepsy Society.
UVA’s cadre of epilepsy researchers has expanded over the last two decades and includes scientists devoted to resolving the cellular- and circuit-basis of epilepsy. Manoj Patel (co-PI of this T32 training program) leads an NIH-funded research program that aims to determine how patient-identified mutations in sodium channels cause devastating childhood encephalopathies. Using a range of electrophysiological tools and transgenic mouse models, Patel’s work has provided key insights into how sodium channel mutations promote severe and often lethal seizures. Mark Beenhakker (co-PI) leads an NIH-funded lab motivated to identify neural circuits that initiate and propagate seizures associated with absence epilepsy, a common pediatric epilepsy. The Beenhakker lab uses electrophysiological and computational tools to identify key cellular components within thalamocortical circuits that promote the generation of absence seizures.