All the people behind
Faculty and organizers
Organizing committee
Nihan Çarçak
Associate Professor of Pharmacology at Istanbul University Faculty of Pharmacy
She is focused on translational epilepsy research investigating the mechanistic inter-relationship between generalised seizures of thalamocortical origin, in the context of interactions of cortex and thalamus underlying absence epilepsy. She is the member of International League Against Epilepsy, Young Neurobiologist Task Force since 2018. Through her publications, presentations, academic visits she has already built a reputation as one of the young promising neuroscientist in the field of translational research for epilepsy.
Marco de Curtis
Head of Pre-clinical Neuroscience Laboratories and Head of the Unit of Epilepsy and Experimental Neurophysiology, Fondazione Istituto Nazionale Neurologico “Carlo Besta”, Milano
He is a specialist in clinical neurology and epileptology and member of several Commissions of the International League Against Epilepsy. He is a leading scientist with a special focus on bridging the gap between basic and clinical research.
Premysl Jiruska
Professor of Physiology and Pathophysiology and the Head of the Department of Physiology at the Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University
He is a Project Manager of Epilepsy Research Centre Prague. His current research is oriented on the mechanisms of epilepsies and seizures due to the malformations of cortical development and on the understanding of seizure dynamics.
Piotr Suffczynski
professor, physicist and neuroscientist working at the Faculty of Physics University of Warsaw
His research interests concern using computational models in studying mechanisms of epilepsy as well as to study brain signals observed through electroencephalography (EEG). By using computational models, he tries to integrate the results of epilepsy studies at different levels of neural organization.
Erwin van Vliet
Assistant professor at the Center for Neuroscience, University of Amsterdam and senior scientist at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Using in vitro and in vivo preclinical epilepsy models and brain tissue from patients with epilepsy, he seeks to unravel the mechanisms of drug-resistance and epileptogenesis, to find biomarkers, and to apply novel therapeutic strategies. His main focus is on the neurovascular unit.
Faculty members
Simona Balestrini
Associate Professor of Child Neurology and Psychiatry at the Neuroscience Department, Children’s Hospital A. Meyer, and the University of Florence
She is also a Consultant Neurologist at the Chalfont Centre for Epilepsy and National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH, and Senior Clinical Research Fellow at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology. She has a special interest in epilepsy genetics and runs epilepsy clinics and epilepsy genomics clinics in Italy and United Kingdom. Her current research focuses on the application of next-generation sequencing techniques to understand the causes, course and treatment response of epilepsy, with the ultimate aim to translate the findings directly into personalised treatment.
Stéphanie Baulac
Research Director and Group leader at the Paris Brain Institute (ICM)’s
Her research focuses on genetics and somatic mosaicism of cortical malformations associated with focal epilepsies using a translational approach from genetic studies on resected epileptic brain tissues, to in vitro functional testing using patient-derived brain organoids, and in utero-based mouse models, the ultimate goal is to provide insights into targeted therapeutic opportunities.
Nihan Çarçak
Associate Professor of Pharmacology at Istanbul University Faculty of Pharmacy
She is focus on translational epilepsy research investigating the mechanistic inter-relationship between generalised seizures of thalamocortical origin, in the context of interactions of cortex and thalamus underlying absence epilepsy. She is the member of International League Against Epilepsy, Young Neurobiologist Task Force since 2018. Through her publications, presentations, academic visits she has already built a reputation as one of the young promising neuroscientist in the field of translational research for epilepsy.
Silvia Cases-Cunillera
currently a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Becker and Prof. Schoch at the Section for Translational Epilepsy Research of the Department of Neuropathology, University Hospital Bonn
Her research interest is focused on the study of developmental brain tumors associated with epilepsy. Using tumor models generated in mice, her main goal is to explore the relationship between tumorigenesis and epileptic activity and to decipher specific mechanisms that could be considered for further therapeutic options.
Marian Galovic
Head of the Epilepsy Unit at the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
His research focuses on neuroimaging and prognostic models in epilepsy. He is the Past-Chair of the ILAE Young Epilepsy Section.
Vadym Gnatkovsky
Senior Researcher at the Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Germany
He holds a PhD in medicine. His scientific interest addressed basic mechanisms underlying epileptic seizure development in experimental and human epilepsy as well as the identification and quantification of EEG biomarkers of the epileptogenic zone. Ongoing studies compare EEG data from epilepsy animal models (potential mechanisms of seizure generation) with human intracranial SEEG recordings. Aim of this work is studying intrinsic mechanisms of seizure generation, development end termination. He has been a member of the AES/ILAE’s Translational Task Force.
Gilles Huberfeld
epileptologist / electrophysiologist (Hopital Fondation Adolphe de Rothschild, Paris, France) and a researcher (Center for Interisciplinary Research in Biology, College de France, Paris)
His research aims at identifying electrophysiological signature of brain processes and at studying epilepsy mechanisms and interactions between epilepsy and brain lesions at the neuronal level.
Shilpa D. Kadam
Associate Professor of Neurology at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine located in Baltimore, Maryland, USA
She is the founder and director of the preclinical EEG core. Her expertise is in epilepsy and mechanisms of epileptogenesis with a sharp focus on neurodevelopmental disorders and refractory seizures.
Katja Kobow
biochemist and Assistant Professor at the Dept of Neuropathology, University Hospital Erlangen, FAU Erlangen, Germany
She is a distinguished expert in molecular neuropathology and epilepsy. She has focused her work on the role of epigenetics in the pathogensis of epilepsy as well as the use of epigenetic signatures as molecular diagnostic biomarker in structural brain lesions associated with focal epilepsy. In 2021 she was awarded the prestigous Michael Prize for her outstanding and pioneering research. Katja is further one of the founding members and previous board member of the ILAE’s Young Epilepsy Section, where she is organizing peer-2peer mentoring programs and educational activities for young epileptologists in both clinic and basic research.
Gabriele Lignani
Associate Professor at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
The main focus of his lab is to develop gene therapy and editing techniques to treat intractable neurological diseases, to study the role of homeostatic plasticity in epilepsy and to understand the basic epileptic mechanisms. In 2021 He has been awarded the Harinarayan Young Scientist Award by ILAE Neurobiology committee for his research in gene therapy for intractable focal epilepsies.
Christos Lisgaras
Assistant Research Scientist at the New York University and The Nathan Kline Institute Center for Dementia Research
His expertise is in many different types of epilepsy including developmental, post-traumatic and epilepsy in Azheimer’s disease. His current work is focusing on developing novel approaches to study and treat epilepsies and dementias in animal models. Christos is also one of ILAE’s Young Epilepsy Section founding members and previous Vice-Chairperson.
Massimo Mantegazza
Inserm Research Director and Group Leader at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology (CNRS and University Cote d’Azur, Nice, France)
His research activity is focused on the pathophysiology of ion channels and of neuronal excitability involved in epilepsy and other diseases of the central nervous system, with the goal to understand pathological mechanisms and develop innovative therapeutic strategies.
Petr Marusic
Professor of Neurology and the Head of the Department of Neurology at the Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital
Currently, he is the President of the Czech Neurological Society. In his research, he focuses on epilepsy surgery, analysis of intracranial EEG, neuroimaging, and cognitive aspects of epilepsy.
Angelika Mühlebner
associate professor for neuropathology at the Department of Pathology of the University Medical Centre Utrecht
Prior to moving to the Netherlands in 2014, she worked as child-neurologist/ epileptologist with in depth knowledge of electrophysiology and neuro-cognitive diagnostics at the Medical University in Vienna. Angelika’s research focuses on understanding the pathogenesis of focal chronic epilepsy, as well as its translational aspects. These aspects drive her to find an effective treatment or modulation for patients with epilepsy by mapping biological and molecular signalling pathways that contribute towards the development and progression of epilepsy and its associated comorbidities.
Jakub Otahal
Professor at the Department of Developmental Epileptology of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Head of the NeuroImaging group of Epilepsy Research Center of Prague
He focuses on metabolic and inflammatory changes in epileptogenic tissue and on translating knowledge from basic science to clinical practice namely to improve the yield of neuroimaging techniques.
Christian Korff
Professor and Head of the Department of Pediatric Neurology at Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève, University of Geneva
He completed his medical studies in Geneva. After basic clinical training in pediatrics and neuropediatrics in Switzerland, he specialized in pediatric epileptology with Professor Douglas Nordli in one of the most renowned centers in this field, in Chicago, USA.He leads several research projects in the field of pediatric epileptology. His main interests are the role of genetics and inflammation in epilepsy in childhood epilepsy.
Cristina R. Reschke
Lecturer in the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences and Funded Investigator within FutureNeuro Research Centre at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ireland
She trained as Clinical Pharmacist and holds MSc and PhD in Pharmacology, which were focused on epilepsy treatment. Cristina major discoveries are on microRNA-based therapies and the pre-clinical development of novel oligonucleotide delivery systems. She specifically focus on uncovering cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying epilepsy to allow for the development of novel and precise therapeutic approaches for disease-modification.
Julika Pitsch
Principal Investigator in the Department of Epileptology at University Hospital Bonn, Germany and head of the working group “Immune-mediated Epilepsies”
In her research, she focuses on immune-mediated epilepsies. Her main aim is to characterize key mechanisms of specific, previously known autoantibodies as well as to identify and characterize novel autoantibodies in different disease models in order to develop potential new therapeutic approaches.
Ondrej Novak
Principal Investigator and Head of the Neural Circuit Pptophysiology Group at the Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University
His research is oriented on understanding the structure and function of neural circuits involved in the pathogenesis of epilepsy and brain tumors. His main expertise is in the area of neural networks, high-resolution optical recording in vivo and therapeutic manipulation of brain activity.
Matthew Walker
Professor of Neurology at Clinical & Experimental Epilepsy, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
His research is oriented on questions concerning the regulation of cortical excitability, mechanisms underlying epileptogenesis (the development of epilepsy), the treatment and pathology of prolonged seizures (status epilepticus), the localisation of seizure onset and the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy.
Administrative and technical support
Drahomira Dvorakova
Head of the Department for Scientific Information at the Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University
In her work, she is oriented on e-learning and the implementation of innovative pedagogic techniques to the education of medical students.
Silvia Casalini
Conference Coordinator at the Venice International University
She provides technical support for the course, lectures and practical sessions.
Pavla Byrne
Department of Foreign Affairs Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles Universit
Her responsibility covers Erasmus+ student and academic exchange, and student mobility. She provides support with course registration and contact with participants.