Epilepsy Research At the University of Michigan Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, our team is at the forefront of epilepsy research, participating in diverse epilepsy research efforts ranging from individual clinical projects to nationally funded clinical and basic science trials. We seek to improve our understanding of disease mechanisms and genetic influences, develop better drug therapies, and discover new treatment options for all adult and pediatric patients with seizure disorders. Ongoing efforts include projects cofunded by NIH/NINDS, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE), the Dravet Syndrome Foundation,
the American Epilepsy Society, the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Center for Organogenesis at U-M, as well as industry-sponsored studies. Our faculty is currently examining animal models containing adult neural stem cells with epileptic markers. This innovative replicating of stem cells will help us understand the role of neural stem cells in epilepsy, and ultimately improve treatment for our patients. Our team also participated in authoring a recently published study in the Annals of Neurology that revealed new information about a possible cause of
LEFT: The process of taking a patient skin biopsy
to brain cells for studying epilepsy mechanisms. RIGHT: Stained resected hippocampal tissue
from an epilepsy patient surgical procedure.
8 | Comprehensive Epilepsy Program at the University of Michigan
Dravet syndrome using neurons from stem cells that were created from skin cells of children with the disease. These new findings underline the potential for these new techniques to help our understanding of epilepsy in our patients. Another study is focused on understanding mechanisms underlying the basic physiological generators of epileptic seizures through sophisticated EEG recordings and computational models, and then translating this information into novel device therapies that will stop seizures.