RUSTON, LA— Dr. Leon Iasemidis- Professor and Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers (AIMBE), Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, LA, has just received a $6 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his and his group’s groundbreaking work on epilepsy.
He gave the following statement to The National Herald.
“The latest $6 million grant over 4 years to our group from the National Science Foundation (NSF) of USA will further advance our research in epilepsy and the brain. We feel honored with this trust to our abilities to produce novel fundamental findings with practical implications for the diagnosis and treatment of such a widespread brain disorder like epilepsy. This grant is particularly significant as it constitutes an interdisciplinary collaboration between the disciplines of biomedical engineering, mathematics, mechanical engineering, statistics, neuroscience, neurology, neurosurgery, clinical psychology and radiology, as well as an inter-institutional collaboration between my institution of Louisiana Tech University and the medical schools of the University of Arkansas and the University of Alabama.
I have been working on epilepsy research since 1980s, that is, after I graduated from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) in electrical engineering and came to USA with fellowship for postgraduate studies in biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In collaboration with Dr. James Chris Sackellares at the department of Neurology of the University of Michigan Medical School, we were the first research group in the world at the time that stored and analyzed mathematically continuous 24 hour electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings over days from patients with epilepsy.
What fascinated me most was the dynamical and unpredictable nature of seizures occurrence and the brain recovery thereafter. Epilepsy is correctly considered a window into brain’s function as it may impair different functions depending on the location of the epileptogenic focus and the neural networks it influences. Over the years, and by the financial support first of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and subsequently by other federal agencies and private foundations, my colleagues and I had a couple of important discoveries on the brain dynamics before, during and after seizures occurrence. We thus helped establish the field of seizure prediction, in which many research groups worldwide work today, and has led to the quest of intelligent implanted deep brain stimulators for seizure control. This latest grant to our group from NSF will add another important dimension to this quest. In particular, we will be looking for the first time in vivo and in long term (up to 2 months) into the microscopic level for changes of neurons and glia cells via in vivo optical imaging, as well as the level of neurotransmitters over time via novel electrochemical sensors, before, during and after seizures. We will then correlate these changes with macroscopic changes at the neuronal network level from concurrent EEG recordings. We will also employ and analyze non-invasive magnetoencephalographic (MEG) recordings from the brain of patients with epilepsy to identify the epileptogenic focus and its network, identify their memory networks, and predict memory impairment based on the overlap of the two networks.
Be able to give reliable warnings of impending seizures and detect seizure susceptibility periods will relieve patients from the fear of seizures occurring abruptly with possible injuries and/or social embarrassment. It will also provide the attending physicians with an additional tool to change medications in time to avert seizures.
It is also expected that our findings will lead to more intelligent, surgically implanted in the brain stimulators that would stimulate only when necessary, at the right place and with the right intensity and waveform, to effectively avert seizures. Identification of the epileptogenic focus and its network in relation to memory networks via non-invasive electrical (EEG) and magnetic (MEG) recordings should contribute to more robust and informed pre-surgical decisions for candidates of epilepsy surgery.
Finally, it is our hope that the concurrent micro and macroscopic explorations we have proposed would lead to a better understanding of the biochemical mechanisms underlying the transitions of brain function into crises in epilepsy as well as in other brain dynamical disorders.
To have permanent resources and personnel in place is very important for timely achievement of long-term goals. Additional funding by private sources, including investors, philanthropists and foundations, would also help towards this direction and may constitute the foundation of a world renowned Center for Brain Dynamics that would be self-sustained, conduct state-of-the-art brain research and train neuroscientists, neuroengineers and physicians in epilepsy and other neurological, psychological and psychiatric disorders characterized by intermittent crises.
“EpiFocus” is the most recent company we have formed as a spinoff from our ongoing translational and patented brain research in epilepsy. I envision we continue along this important pathway by creating opportunities for formation of additional startup companies with the help from the community at large, the Greek American community in particular, the health industry, state and federal resources.”
Epilepsy was first described by the father of medicine, Hippocrates, and the word itself is Greek. The chronic disorder is characterized by unprovoked seizures and is currently incurable, but treatments are available for certain types of epilepsy. Historical figures thought to have suffered from epilepsy, include Socrates, Julius Caesar, and Napoleon Bonaparte.
Professor Iasemidis’ wife, Vassia has an MS in Pharmacology and an executive MBA and is the vice president of research and development at the Biomedical Research Foundation in Shreveport, LA. They have two children, Alexander and Thalia, both born in the United States. Thalia is 23 years old, a recent graduate of the business school in Marketing from Louisiana Tech University and about to begin her career. Alexander at 18 years old is starting in Engineering and Economics at Louisiana Tech University.
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