Research in Pediatric Epilepsy

The University of Chicago has a deep and longstanding commitment to improving patient care through innovative research. The members of the research team include faculty from multiple University of Chicago departments, Argonne National Laboratory, The University of Illinois, the University of Minnesota Engineering Department, multiple European Universities, and Shenzen Children's Hospital in China. Discipline's represented include mathematics, physics, cell and molecular biology, molecular genetics, and the behavioral neurosciences. Pediatric epilepsy team members are:

• Developing better methods for choosing anti-epileptic medications for children.
• Developing innovative mathematical models and techniques for identifying temporal interactions in the brain.
• Developing methods to anticipate the time at which a seizure will occur.
• Developing better procedures for localizing brain electrical activity.
• Detecting and analyzing human brain malformations.
• Identifying the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for the initiation of seizures.
• Identifying the mechanisms of action of anticonvulsants.
• Collaborating with pharmaceutical companies on the introduction of new medications for children.

Support for this work is through the National Institute of Health, through many generous private donors and especially by the establishment of the Falk Center for Advanced Study and Care of Pediatric Epilepsy, the largest pediatric research effort of its kind in the United States.

For more information, click the links below.