Epileptic Disorders^™ Educational Prize 2018

Dr Rohit Shankar is awarded the Epileptic Disorders Educational Prize for his paper, Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP): what every neurologist should know, by Rohit Shankar, Elizabeth J. Donner, Brendan McLean, Lina Nashef, and Torbjörn Tomson, Epileptic Disord 2017; 19 (1): 1-9. The award will be presented at the 13th European Congress on Epileptology in Vienna, Austria (26-30 August 2018).

Dr Rohit Shankar MBE, FRCPsych is a Consultant Developmental Neuropsychiatrist and clinical director for the adult Intellectual Disability Neuropsychiatry services for Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. He is an Hon. Clinical Associate Professor (Senior Clinical Lecturer) at Exeter Medical School. He did his MBBS in Coimbatore Medical College followed by post-graduation at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience (NIMHANS) India.

He was conferred into the Membership of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, British order of knighthood instituted in 1917 by King George V to reward outstanding achievement or service to the intellectual disability community and was awarded the Royal College of Psychiatrists Fellowship (FRCPsych) as a mark of recognition for his work to Psychiatry in 2016, as well as many other awards and commendations. He has over 100 publications, oral and poster presentations in peer reviewed journals and international conferences, chaired three national RCPsych College Reports and contributed to five books.

Dr Shankar's research focus is SUDEP and the impact of ID in PWE. He has set up the UK ID AED research register to look at outcomes of AEDs in people with ID which has been adopted by NIHR and is currently running the PIXIE genetic project in Cornwall. He has created the SUDEP and seizure safety checklist (https://www.sudep.org/checklist) and released EpSMon (https://www.sudep.org/epilepsy-self-monitor) which has positive Cochrane reviews and NHIR systemic technological appraisals and is the world’s first evidence based mobile application for people with epilepsy to monitor their risk. The checklist and app are both part of the UK national epilepsy commissioning toolkit.