Dale Hesdorffer

The Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center at Columbia University celebrates the life and mourns the passing of our colleague, Dale Hesdorffer, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, at age 66 after a prolonged illness.

Dr. Hesdorffer graduated from Barnard College in 1981 and earned her MPH (1991) and PhD (1993) in epidemiology from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She was a world-renowned expert in the epidemiology of epilepsy, with a particular focus on mortality and comorbidity with psychiatric disorders; much of what we know about these topics originates from her pioneering work. Dr. Hesdorffer published more than 175 scholarly articles and served on numerous editorial and advisory boards at the Epilepsy Foundation, the American Epilepsy Society, the International League Against Epilepsy, and the World Federation of Neurology. 

Dale was an extremely kind and intelligent colleague and will be sorely missed. Our sympathies to her family, including her husband, Richard Miller, daughter Olivia Miller, and sister Jan Nusbaum.

Ambassador for Epilepsy Award: In 2013, Dr. Dale Hesdorffer received the Ambassador for Epilepsy Award for her expertise in the epidemiology of epilepsy and her contributions as the co-chair of the ILAE Commission on Epidemiology.