Program Mission
Our program’s mission is to perform clinical and basic research that will lead to an improvement of the quality of life of patients with epilepsy. This objective will be achieved by performing research at The Cleveland Clinic and establishing programs to train researchers in this field.
Research Goals
Our goals are the following:
- Define the molecular and genetic basis of the epilepsies
- Improve the diagnostic techniques used for epilepsy
- Apply our better understanding of the pathogenesis of the epilepsies to test novel therapeutic approaches in animal models and humans
- A true multidisciplinary approach combining the expertise of clinical epileptologists, neuroimagers, neuropsychologists, and neurosurgeons with state-of-the-art basic molecular, protein, and electrophysiological techniques will be used
More specific projects include the following:
- Study the molecular and gene changes underlying epileptogenesis in human epilepsy
- Characterize the molecular genetics of various types of human epilepsies
- Investigate the role of various genes in the expression of drug resistance and drug hypersensitivity in patients with epilepsy
- Localize the interictal and ictal epileptic activities through the use of simultaneous recordings of functional MRI and EEG in patients with epilepsy and animal models of seizures
- Investigate the effect of deep brain electrical stimulation on the basal ganglia and cortical function and its effectiveness for the control of epileptiform discharges and epileptic seizures in patients with epilepsy and animal models of seizures
- Design and evaluate developmentally appropriate neuroprotective interventions for use in populations at risk for epilepsies
- Evaluate the potential clinical utility of hypothermia for the treatment of prolonged seizures