American Epilepsy Society

At a time when funding for medical researchers early in their careers is scarce, the American Epilepsy Society is leading the effort with other members of the epilepsy community to fund 19 early career fellowships and research grants. AES, one of the largest non-governmental funders for those starting their careers in epilepsy research, has partnered with the the Epilepsy Foundation, Wishes for Elliott: Advancing SCN8A Research, and the Dravet Syndrome Foundation to nurture the next generation of researchers. Together, these awards provide $790,000 for epilepsy research and research training. "This funding builds a pipeline of innovative minds who will lead the future discoveries in epilepsy. Partnering with other like-minded organizations makes strategic sense and broadens the impact of these awards," AES President Michael Privitera, M.D., said. AES and the Epilepsy Foundation have collaborated for many years to support early stage investigators, many of whom go on to successful independent careers in epilepsy research. For organizations like Wishes for Elliott and the Dravet Syndrome Foundation, both of which focus on rare and severe early onset epilepsies, this history of success provides an excellent opportunity to encourage more research on these complex and challenging diseases. The fellowships support one year of mentored research training for predoctoral, postdoctoral, and clinical fellows, and the junior investigator research awards provide one year of research funding for early career scientists. The selected recipients are conducting basic, translational, and clinical research at academic institutions and medical schools throughout the U.S. "This is a strong group of early career scientists, bringing new ideas to advance research in epilepsy" Manisha Patel, Ph.D., chair of the AES Research & Training Council, said

The following is the list of scholars from American Epilepsy Society who contributed and/or serves as editors for one or more OMICS International journals and conferences

• Debopam Samanta
• Elaine Wyllie
• Paul H Mc Cabe