Newswise — West Hartford, Conn., April 20, 2015 – Leigh N. Sepeta, Ph.D., Children’s National Health System, was awarded the Susan S. Spencer Clinical Research Training Fellowship for her work in temporal lobe epilepsy in pediatric patients. Dr. Sepeta will receive this distinguished honor at an award ceremony to take place during the American Academy of Neurology’s (AAN) Annual Meeting later this month. Dr. Sepeta was also recognized for this award during the American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting.
Dr. Sepeta is a postdoctoral fellow with Children’s National Health System studying memory development and its neural underpinnings to determine how memory is altered in pediatric patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.
“We hope to influence clinical care by establishing a functional and structural imaging protocol for evaluations of pre-surgical memory functioning and maximize its utility by investigating the developing memory system,” said Dr. Sepeta. “We hope that this protocol will help medical professionals better understand memory functioning in child development and epilepsy.”
“The presentation of this award underscores the importance of Dr. Sepeta’s work in the field of epilepsy and clinical research,” said Dr. Madison M. Berl, one of Dr. Sepeta’s mentors on the project. “I am proud to be associated with the work that Dr. Sepeta is doing in temporal lobe epilepsy as she strives to develop new mechanisms that provide better treatment for people living with epilepsy.” Dr. William D. Gaillard also serves as a mentor on Dr. Sepeta’s work.
The Clinical Research Training Fellowship in Epilepsy was established in honor of Susan S. Spencer, M.D., a past president of the American Epilepsy Society (AES) who was Professor of Neurology and Medical Director of the Epilepsy Program at the Yale University School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Hospital. This program, targeting fellows and new faculty, fosters the development of investigators interested in pursuing careers in patient oriented research. The fellowship is jointly funded by AES, the American Brain Foundation, and the Epilepsy Foundation.
About EpilepsyThe epilepsies affect 50 million people worldwide, including three million in the United States. The disorder can have a single specific, well‐defined cause, such as a head injury, or manifest as a syndrome with a complex of symptoms. It is the third most common neurological disorder after Alzheimer’s disease and stroke.
About the American Epilepsy Society The American Epilepsy Society is a medical and scientific society whose members are professionals from private practice, academia and government engaged in both research and clinical care for people with epilepsy. 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. For additional information, visit aesnet.org.
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