Research
Please check here regularly for information on research currently being done in the field of epilepsy as well as for information on research studies that people living with epilepsy and their families in BC can participate in:
Dino Island:
Dino Island is a cognitive intervention research study from the University of Victoria (UVic) that is designed to improve attention and executive function in children with neurodevelopmental concerns, special needs and/or disabilities, such as epilepsy. Researchers in Victoria, Surrey and Calgary are looking for participation from BC families with neurodiverse children. For more information on Dino Island, please click here. If you are interested in taking part in Dino Island, you can register here.
The Strongest Families Neurodevelopmental (Parents Empowering Neurodiverse Kids) Study:
The Strongest Families Neurodevelopmental (Parents Empowering Neurodiverse Kids) Study is looking for participation from parents of children living with epilepsy. Dr. Patrick McGrath and Dr. Lucy Lach with the CHILD-BRIGHT Network have developed a project to test a new parenting program for families with neurodiverse children who are also dealing with behaviours that are having a negative impact on the activities of daily life. Read more about the program here and sign up for the study here.
Research Article about SUDEP:
Jha, A., et al. (2021). Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: a personalized prediction tool. Neurology, 96(21), e2627-e2638. View this article here. Click here to read our blog post on this research article.
Help Shape the Future of Epilepsy Research in Canada:
EpLink and the Ontario Brain Institute are looking to gather the input of people living with epilepsy or those who care for or work for people living with epilepsy to help set the priorities for epilepsy and seizure research in Canada. If you have epilepsy or experience seizures, or if you care for or work with someone who does, take the survey linked here to be able to set the priorities for epilepsy and seizure research in Canada by picking your top research priorities and letting them know what matters to you. Your rankings will help direct researchers and research funding organizations to answer the questions that are most important to people living with epilepsy and/or seizures when planning future research projects.
Continuing Burden of Refractory Epilepsy Research Article:
Janson & Bainbridge (2020). Continuing Burden of Refractory Epilepsy. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 1-3. View this article here.
Autoimmune Epilepsy Research Article:
Lv, R. J., Ren, H. T., Guan, H. Z., Cui, T., & Shao, X. Q. (2018). Seizure semiology: an important clinical clue to the diagnosis of autoimmune epilepsy. Annals of clinical and translational neurology, 5(2), 208-215. View this article here. For more information, click here to read our blog post on this research article.
Neuroethics Canada:
A team led by Neuroethics Canada’s Dr. Judy Illes and Dr. Patrick McDonald have been awarded a $750,000 research grant from the US’s National Institute of Mental Health to fund a study “to address the knowledge gap and ethical considerations surrounding novel neurotechnological interventions and the pathway to their adoption for pediatric drug-resistant epilepsy”. To learn more, please check out the Centre for Brain Health website here or the Neuroethics Canada website here.