Celebrating 25 Years of Progress: The Australian Pregnancy Register’s Impact on Women with Epilepsy

29 October 2024

Since its establishment in 1999 by a dedicated team led by Prof. Frank Vajda, the Australian Pregnancy Register has been an essential resource for understanding the effects of antiseizure medications on pregnant women with epilepsy. Prof. Terry O’Brien, Prof. Cecilie Lander, Janet Graham, Alison Hitchcock, Emeritus Prof. Mervyn Eadie, and Prof. Piero Perucca have alsoRead More…

16 October 2024

MEDIA RELEASE 16 October 2024   Wednesday 16 October 2024 – In Australia, 170 people die every year from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP).1 This occurs when an otherwise healthy person living with epilepsy dies suddenly and prematurely, with no identifiable cause of death.1 SUDEP occurs in approximately 1 in 1,000 adults with epilepsyRead More…

14 October 2024

25 September 2024 Researchers at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) are using synthetic brains and hearts to prove the effectiveness of epilepsy drugs made from spider venom. Backed by a $4.1 million grant from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), UQ’s foremost experts in stem cell technology and venom-based drug discovery are makingRead More…

14 October 2024

9 May 2024 In a Victorian-first, The Alfred can now use a revolutionary technology to best treat patients with epilepsy and brain tumours, thanks to the generosity of donors. Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) allows our neurosurgeons to treat epilepsy and brain tumours using a minimally invasive method. It works by inserting a laser catheter into the brain and precisely guiding it with MRI toRead More…

14 October 2024

6 August 2024 The Hon Ged Kearney MP, Assistant Minister Health and Aged Care, and Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health, has visited Monash University’s Parkville campus to meet the team of researchers behind the end-to-end development of the world’s first smart wearable drug delivery system designed to transport epilepsy drugs through the skin. The team,Read More…

14 October 2024

5 October 2024 The largest study of its kind has identified individual genes, gene sets, and gene variants that increase risk of developing epilepsy – vital discoveries to improve diagnosis and treatment for one of the most common neurological conditions. A collaboration between 40 research groups around the world has released its collected data in an interactiveRead More…

14 October 2024

8 October 2024 A simple scoring system from researchers at Rutgers Health and other institutions may help doctors predict which patients will likely become seizure-free after minimally invasive epilepsy surgery. A study in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology introduces a predictive model that could expand access to surgical treatment for the neurological disorder that causes recurring seizures. Epilepsy affects nearlyRead More…

14 October 2024

1 October 2024 University of Queensland researchers have made a significant step towards enabling women with epilepsy safer access to a common and highly effective anti-seizure medication. Sodium Valproate or valproic acid is widely prescribed for epilepsy and certain mental health conditions, but is considered harmful to use during pregnancy because of links to spinal cordRead More…