Epilepsia^® Prize 2010

2010 Morris-Coole Prize

The Morris-Coole Prize is an annual ILAE award that is given in recognition of an outstanding research paper published in Epilepsia the previous year on any field of epilepsy research, either clinical or basic. Papers are nominated to the selection committee by the associate editors of Epilepsia. The prize was established to stimulate excellence in epilepsy research as well as rewarding young researchers for outstanding contributions to the field.

Yao-Chung Chuang, MD, PhD

Dr Yao-Chung Chuang was born in Chia-I City, Taiwan. After his medical training from Kaohsiung Medical College, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, he received residence training in clinical neurology from Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. To prepare himself as a physician-scientist, he then spent one year as a Fellow of Professor Jing-Jane Tsai at the Division of Epilepsy, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan to receive training in clinical epilepsy research. This was followed by the pursuit of his PhD degree under Professor Samuel H H Chan at National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. In the laboratory of Professor Chan, who is National Chair Professor of Neuroscience appointed by the Ministry of Education, Dr Chuang received solid training in neuroscience that integrates systemic physiology with cellular and molecular biology, specializing in cell death and mitochondrial dysfunction.

As a successful physician-scientist, Dr Chuang has moved up the academic ladder smoothly, and is currently an Associate Professor of Neurology and Head of Epilepsy at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. During the past seven years, Dr Chuang has competed successfully for the prestigious research grants from the National Science Council, Taiwan, with additional grant support from the Hospital. The thrust of his research includes both clinical and basic aspects of seizure disorders and epilepsy. In his basic neuroscience studies, Dr Chuang created an animal model to investigate the mechanisms that underlie mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress in seizure-induced neuronal cell death. This work has generated six research articles. In his clinical studies, Dr Chuang focuses on cerebrovascular and autonomic functions in patients with epilepsy. His recent work showing that long-term antiepileptic drug therapy contributes to acceleration of atherosclerosis was selected the best paper published in Epilepsia during 2009, for which he was awarded the Morris-Coole Prize by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE).

In addition to his clinical duties and research activities, Dr Chuang is also an active council member of the Taiwan Epilepsy Society. In his capacity as the President of Kaohsiung Association for Patients with Epilepsy during the past six years, he has spear-headed education of family members on patient care.