Main EEC Forum: The impact of violence on persons with epilepsy and functional (psychogenic nonepileptic) seizures 
Chair: Barbara Mostacci (Italy)

• Prevalence of psychological and physical abuse on persons with epilepsy – Giulia Battaglia (Italy) 
• Gender-based violence and functional/dissociative seizures – Markus Reuber (United Kingdom) 
• Round table - Recognizing and preventing violence in persons with epilepsy and persons with psychogenic seizures – Caroline Hingray (France), Francesca Sofia (Italy), and Marilisa D’amico (Italy) 

 

Main EEC Forum: 15 years of stereotactic Laser Thermoablation (sLTA) for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) - from the pros and cons to the future 
Chair: Friedhelm C. Schmitt (Germany)

• lntroduction of discussion and case: 18 Year old with left sided non-lesional, PET-positive, VEM-confirmed, non-lesional mesial temporal lobe epilepsy – Friedhelm C. Schmitt (Germany) 
• Adult MTLE: seizure outcome in sL-TA and resection – current data – Felix Rosenow (Germany) 
• Paedatric MTLE: seizure outcome in sL-TA and resection -  current data – Ifran Ali (USA) 
• Adult MTLE: Long term neuropsychological data – Slta – Daniel L. Drane (USA) 
•  Paedatric MTLE: Long term neuropsychological data – resection – Georgia Ramantani (Switzerland) 
• TED: Discussion case vote – All Speakers  
• Case - pro stereotactic L-TA – Ido Strauss (Isreal) 
• Case - pro resection – Konstantinos N. Fountas (Greece) 
• TED: Discussion case vote – All Speakers 
• Discussion with audience: Summary and mutual Clinical recommendations -  Karl Roessler (Austria) and above speakers     
• TED: clinical recommendations – All Speakers 

 

Main EEC Forum: Translational research approaches for better understanding autoimmune-associated epilepsy 
Chair: Francesca Colciaghi (Italy)  

• The immunopathogenesis of immune-associated seizures - Adam Handel (United Kingdom)  
• In vivo Mechanisms of Antibody-Mediated Neurological Disorders - Sukhvir Wright (United Kingdom)    
• Antibody induced seizure susceptibility and impaired cognitive performance in a passive transfer rat model of autoimmune encephalitis - Nihan Carcak (Turkey)   
• Non-invasive biomarkers of autoimmune-inflammatory seizures - Laura Librizzi  (Italy) 
• CNS autoimmune response in a rat model of epileptogenic cortical malformation - Francesca Colciaghi (Italy) 
   

Main EEC Forum: AI applications throughout a patient’s journey 
Co-Chairs: Eric van Diessen (Natherlands) and Luca de Palma (Italy) 

• A practical introduction into AI & prediction- Wim Otte (Netherlands) 
• Assisting early diagnosis in epilepsy: merits and flaws of language models - Eric van Diessen (Netherlands)   
• How NLP can reveal novel clinical insight on complex epilepsies - Alina Ivaniuck (Ukraine) 
• AI as a new “eye” for difficult to recognize lesions in epilepsy surgery - Sophie Adler (United Kingdom) 

 

Main EEC Forum: Pediatricians want to now what happens to their patients after moving to adult care 
Co-Chairs: Federico Vigevano (Italy) and Kette Valente (Brazil) 

• Parents concerns: where do we go now that they are adults? - José Ángel Aibar (Spain) 
• Optimizing seizure therapy during transition - Rima Nabbout (France) 
• Neurodegeneration in adults with DEE? - Danielle Andrade (Canada) 
• Psychiatric issues in adults with DEE - Marco Mula (United Kingdom) 

 

Main EEC Forum: The interplay between sleep and epilepsy in the advent of ultra long-term EEG monitoring 
Chairs: Pedro Faro Viana (United Kingdom) 

• Sleep and epilepsy: A snapshot of knowledge and future research lines - Sofia Eriksson (United Kingdom) 
• An overview of the electrophysiology of epilepsy and sleep - Birgit Frauscher (USA) 
• Ultra long-term EEG monitoring systems - Pedro Faro Viana (United Kingdom) 
• Biomarkers of sleep and cognition in ultra long-term EEG - Troels Kjaer (Denmark) 

 

Main EEC Forum: How to tackle complexity in a rare epilepsy syndrome? 
Co-Chairs: Alexis Arzimanoglou (Spain) and Isabella Brambilla (Italy) 

• Genomic complexity in a monogenic condition - Sanjay Sisodiya (United Kingdom) 
• Precision medicine in Dravet syndrome: from a national registry to translational approaches - Simona Balestrini (Italy) 
• Multimodal methods and databases to construct the natural history - Rima Nabbout (France) 
• PROM'S News Scale DAND - Development of the Dravet disease with associated neuropsychiatric disorder (D-DAND) interview - Alberto Cossu (Italy) 

 

Main EEC Forum: A global perspective of genetic testing in the epilepsies – does one size fits all? 
Co-Chairs: Andreas Brunklaus (United Kingdom) and Sopio Gverdtsitei (Georgia) 

• Clinical state-of-the art view – “Who to test and how – case examples with quiz” - Sarah Weckhuysen (Belgium) 
• The global reality of genetic testing – “Challenges across different healthcare settings” - Chahnez Triki (Tunisia) 
• The genetic laboratory perspective – “How can the medical research and industry sectors support improved global genetic testing efforts” - Michael Hildebrand (Australia) 
• Lessons learned from ILAE survey on genetic testing – “Towards a pragmatic approach of testing” - Gaetan Lesca (France) 

 

Main EEC Forum: Neuromodulation in drug-resistant epilepsy: pharmacotherapy meets neurostimulation 
Chair: Ekaterina Pataraia (Austria) 

• Responsive Neurostimulation (RNS) Closed loop Neurostimulation, neurostimulation or neuromodulation – emerging network paradigms as well novel stimulation strategies - Dawn Eliashiv (USA) 
• Deep Brain Stimulation – Trends in utilization and expanding options beyond the Anterior Thalamic Nucleus - Ekaterina Pataraia (Austria) 
• Vagus nerve stimulation meets pharmacotherapy: Goes and No-Goes - Yaroslav Winter (Germany) 
• Influence of Neuromodulation on EEG and connectivity – Lorenzo Ricci (Italy) 

 

Main EEC Forum: Surgery for Epilepsies of Genetic Origin: Worth a Shot or Hopeless Cause? 
Chair: M. Scott Perry (USA)  

• Should genetic testing be a standard component of pre-surgical evaluation of pediatric drug resistant epilepsy? - Pavel Krsek (Czech Republic) 
• Epilepsy surgery in genetic epilepsies where seizure freedom is expected – Carmen Barba (Italy) 
• Epilepsy surgery in genetic MRI-negative developmental epileptic encephalopathies - Angel Aledo-Serrano (Spain) 
• Can epilepsy surgery be disease-modifying in genetic DEEs? - Kees P.J. Braun (Netherlands) 

 

Mini EEC Forum: The clinical perspective of the two-way-relationship of aging and epilepsy 
Chair: Hermann Stefan (Germany) 

• Prevention – Simona Lattanzi (Italy) 
• Biomarkers – TBC 
• Functional Imaging – Matthias Koepp (United Kingdom) 
• TLE - Christoph Helmstaedter (Germany) 
• Hyperexcitability in AD – Benjamin Cretin (France) 
• ASM - Hermann Stefan (Germany) 
• Innovative individual drug application – Christian Franken (Germany) 
• Surgery - Friedhelm C. Schmitt (Germany) 

 

Mini EEC Forum: Patient co-design epilepsy science: How the experience of people with epilepsy can shape the development of novel epilepsy therapies 
Chair: Pablo Casillas-Espinosa (Mexico/Australia) 

• The importance of patient involvement in epilepsy – Francesca Sofia (Italy) and Torie Robinson (United Kingdom) 
• Science guided by patients - developing novel disease-modifying therapies for drug-resistant TLE – Pablo Casillas-Espinosa (Mexico/Australia) 
• The consumer codesigned outcome epilepsy-Desirability of Outcome Rank (DOOR) as the primary outcome endpoint for the SeLECT Trial for the first medical disease-modification clinical trial in people with drug-resistant epilepsy – Lucy Vivash (UK/Australia) 
• Clinicians' perspective on patient involvement in clinical treatment, follow-up, and decision-making – Luca De Palma (Italy) 
• The importance of carers of children with epilepsy to guide research and clinical decision-making – Isabella Brambilla (Italy) and Laura M'Rabet (Netherlands) 

 

Mini EEC Forum: Epilepsy surgery: Did we forget the children? Cognitive assessment in children 
Chair: Annette Holth Skogan (Norway) 

• Is epilepsy surgery for children fully utilized? – Mary Lou Smith (Canada) 
• Awake surgery with neuropsychological monitoring: From the neurosurgeons´ point of view – Jugoslav Ivanovic (Norway) 
• Neuropsychological monitoring during awake surgery: Methodological issues – Signe Delin Moldrup (Denmark) 
• Cognitive assessment in epilepsy surgery with adults and children: Where do the differences lie? – Lisa Evju Hauger (Norway) 

 

Mini EEC Forum: Sleep frenemies: Navigating the Differential Diagnosis of SHE and DOA through Homemade Video Analysis 
Co-Chairs: Paolo Tinuper (Italy) and Philippe Ryvlin (Switzerland) 

• Who is SHE? – Belén Abarrategui (Spain) 
• Who are DOA? – Sofia Eriksson (United Kingdom) 
• Interactive Video Session – Laura Licchetta (Italy) 
• The key elements for the differential diagnosis – Francesca Bisulli (Italy)  

 

Mini EEC Forum: Epilepsy in mitochondrial diseases 
Co-Chairs: Francesca Bisulli  (Italy) and Ronit Pressler (United Kingdom)  

• Overview of mitochondrial encephalopathies - focus on epileptic manifestations – Grainne Gorman (United Kingdom) 
• Illustrative Clinical case 1 – Laura Licchetta (Italy) 
• Illustrative Clinical case 2 – Marietta Papadopoulou (France)  
• Illustrative Clinical case 3 – Marcello Bellusci (Spain)  
   

Mini EEC Forum: Seizures in Autoimmune Encephalitis: synergy between preclinical and clinical biomarkers  
Chair: Sara Matricardi (Italy)  

• Peripheral biomarkers role in autoimmune encephalitis with seizures – Laura Librizzi (Italy) 
• Experimental models and the epileptogenic role of antibodies in autoimmune encephalitis – Marianna Spatola (Spain)  
• Peripheral or Central: where do antibody mediated seizure syndromes begin? – Sarosh R. Irani (USA) 

 

Mini EEC Forum: Focal Epilepsy is ... 
Chair: Maeike Zijlmans (Netherlands) 

• Focal epilepsy is... ...the seizures - Philippe Kahane (France) 
• Focal epilepsy is... ...the electrographical signal - Fabrice Bartolemei (France) 
• Focal epilepsy is... ...the (metabolic) MRI - Gilbert Hangel (Austria)  
• Focal epilepsy is... ... the (outcome of) surgery - Johannes Sarnthein (Switzerland) 
• Focal epilepsy is… … the epileptic tissue - Premysl Jiruska (Czech Republic) 
• Focal epilepsy is… … AI will tell us - Sem Hoogteijling (Netherlands) 

 

Mini EEC Forum: EEG patterns after cardiac arrest: what we know and what we don’t 
Chair: Simone Beretta (Italy) 

• Rhythmic and periodic patterns - Michel Van Putten (Netherlands) 
• Is this EEG highly malignant, malignant or maybe not? - Erik Westhall (Sweden) 
• EEG patterns and neuroimaging - Jong Woo Lee (USA) 
• Status epilepticus and ictal-interictal continuum: guess the prognosis, guess the treatment! - Pia De Stefano (Switzerland) 

 

Mini EEC Forum: Epilepsy beyond seizures – an Epicare initiative 
Co-Chairs: Morten I. Lossius (Norway) and Christoph Helmstaedter (Germany) 

• Challenges with psychiatric comorbidity in patients with epilepsy and intellectual disabilities (ID) - Oliver Johannes Henning (Norway)  
• Exploring integrative approaches: Clinician perspectives on defining patient-centered outcomes in the treatment of rare and complex epilepsies - Julia Taube (Germany) 
• Stigma – still an issue in 2024? - Reetta Kälviäinen (Finland) 
• Tools developed by patient organisations for improving physician-patient communication- Isabella Brambilla (Italy) 

 

Mini Forum: Clash of the Titans: VNS versus DBS for Drug-Resistant Epilepsy 
Chair: Rory Piper (United Kingdom) 

• For Vagus Nerve Stimulation – Kristl Vonck (Belgium) 
• For Deep Brain Stimulation – Lukas Imbach (Switzerland) 
• VNS vs DBS – Michael Hart (United Kingdom) 
• Future directions in neuromodulation – Aswin Chari (United Kingdom) 

 

Mini EEC Forum: Lafora disease – new advances in pathogenesis and treatment 
Chair: Roberto Michelucci (Italy) 

• Clinical Features, Diagnostic Challenges, and Prognostic Factors - Lorenzo Muccioli (Italy) 
• Molecular mechanisms - Cinzia Costa (Italy) 
• Animal models and new therapeutic avenues - Jose M. Serratosa (Spain) 
• Experience and challenges from clinical trials - Berge Minassian (USA) 

 

 Mini EEC Forum: SLC6A1 Patient Advocacy Network Translating Science for Patients 
Co-Chairs: Lindsay Randall (United Kingdom) and Leyla Varda (Belgium) 

• 4 Phenylbutyrate - the trial and beyond – Lindsay Randall (United Kingdom) 
• SLC6A1 Portal – Katrine Johanessen (Denmark) 
• Italian Developments – Andrea De Colle (Italy) 
• Intrafamilial Variability in Phenotypes – Angel Aledo-Serrano (Spain) 

 

Mini EEC Forum: Epilepsy Nursing care models in Europe 
Chair: Tolu Olaniyan (United Kingdom)  

• An overview of the needs of women with epilepsy – Ludivine Rohrer (France) 
• Care pathway for women with epilepsy & pregnancy – Annette Hospes (Netherlands) 
• Seizures that go BUMP! – Sinead Murphy (Ireland) 
• Maintaining a sturdy skeleton across the lifespan – Sandra Dewar (USA) 

 

Mini EEC Forum: How to critically appraise and use results of RCTs on epilepsy in clinical practice 
Chair: Francesco Brigo (Italy) 

• Critical appraisal as part of the evidence-based practice (introduction) - Simona Lattanzi (Italy) 
• The mean features of RCTs and the most important risk of bias - Francesco Brigo (Italy)  
• How to critically appraise RCTs on epilepsy - Anthony Marson (United Kingdom)  
• How to apply results of RCTs and meta-analyses of RCTs on epilepsy in clinical practice and public health policies - Nathalie Jetté (USA)  

 

Mini EEC Forum: From bedside to bench to bedside –the circle of technology in epilepsy care   
Chair: Caroline Neuray (Belgium) 

• The center of our attention – patient´s expectations towards technology – Nicolas Zabler (Germany) 
• The bridge between seats – physician´s challenges in delivering technology – Anna Elisabetta Vaudano (Italy) 
• The scout for new paths – hurdles in research in technology – Mark Richardson (United Kingdom) 
• The delivery chain – bottlenecks in bringing technology to the market - Tanja Hellier (Belgium) 

 

Mini EEC Forum: Using and reporting neurotechnology in epilepsy research:  editorial insights from the Epilepsia Open inaugural interns 
Chair: Aristea Galanopoulou 

• Artificial Intelligence and machine learning in preclinical epilepsy research – the promise and challenges for preclinical epilepsy research – Jesús Servando Medel Matus (USA) 
• Optimizing the reporting of advanced neuroimaging studies in epilepsy – Giulia Sofia Cereda (Italy) 
• Optimizing the reporting of brain network analysis of individuals with epilepsy using neurophysiology studies – Naoto Kuroda (USA/Japan) 
• How to write a neurotechnology paper - general recommendations and insights from reviewer comments – Pedro Faro Viana (United Kingdom) 

Chairs symposium 

Title: “Malum quo communius eo peius”: cognitive problems in epilepsy 

• Cognitive decline in the developmental and epileptic encephalopathies – J Helen Cross (United Kingdom) 
• Epilepsy and cognitive decline -two sides of the same coin - Nicola Marchi (Italy)
• Interictal activity - a guilty bystander - Laurent Sheybani (Switzerland) 
• Epilepsy surgery - a double-edged sword - Sallie Baxendale (United Kingdom) 

 

Session title: Making better decisions in epilepsy care: Applying the science of decision making in the epilepsy clinic.  

• Optimism Bias and The Influential Mind – Neil Garrett (United Kingdom) 
• Predicting, illustrating, communicating, and optimizing patient-centered outcomes of epilepsy surgery using nomograms and Bayes' theorem – Bryce Mulligan (Canada) 
• My choice and how I made it – TBA

 

Session title: Optimizing future epilepsy treatment with new antiseizure medications (ASMs) 

• Pros and cons of current clinical trials with new ASMs; can we do better? - Emilio Perucca (Australia)  
• How to optimize ASM therapy with therapeutic drug monitoring? - Cecilie Johannessen Landmark (Norway) 
• Precision gene therapy for epilepsy: How long will it take to see it in the clinics? - Stephanie Schorge (United Kingdom) 
• New ASMs in the pipeline; what is their potential? - Meir Bialer (Israel) 

 

Session title: Advanced targeted gene-therapy approaches for epilepsy. 

• General principles of gene therapy approaches - David Henshall (Ireland) 
• Gene therapies for monogenic epilepsies - Gaia Colasante (Italy) 
• Activity-dependent gene therapy for epilepsy - Gabriele Lignani (United Kingdom) 
• Current Clinical Applications: gene therapy trials pipeline - Paul Boon (Belgium) 

 

Session title: Hemispheric Surgery - The role of the surgical technique on seizure outcome 

• Hemispherotomy – indication and outcome – Martha Feucht (Austria) 
• Lateral and vertical parasagittal hemispherotomy – Christian Dorfer (Austria) 
• Comparison of effectiveness lateral versus vertical – Aria Fallah (USA) 
• What are the predictors of outcome in hemispherotomy – Georgia Ramantani (Switzerland)
• Round table discussion 

 

Session title: New roads to improve outcome (and to lead to Rome) 

• Refining the mechanisms of epileptogenesis in DEEs: which come first, is D or E first? Nicola Specchio (Italy) 
• Younger is better in epilepsy surgery - Kees Braun (Netherlands) 
• Tackling beyond seizure: moving from Anti-seizure medications to Disease modifying medications – Stéphane Auvin (France) 
• Is big data the answer we are looking for next generation sequencing analysis - Ingo Helbig (USA)  
• Prevention, prediction, improvement: is the road still long? Rima Nabbout (France) 

 

Session title:  EEG: present and future 

• interictal EEG: is that enough? - Guido Rubboli (Denmark) 
• Brain machine learning: novel ways of modelling which electrodes should be removed – Yujiang Wang (United Kingdom) 
• new long-term recording methods – Wim van Paesschen (Belgium) 
• new insights from intracerebral recordings – Laura Tassi (Italy)

Session title: Difficult discussions in newly diagnosed epilepsy  

• A critical review of the impacts of newly diagnosed epilepsy including findings from a recent ILAE survey - Venus Tang (Hong Kong)

First-person experiences at epilepsy diagnosis

• Being young at epilepsy diagnosis - Erin Davies (Ireland)
• Being a parent of a child with severe epilepsy - Francesca Sofia (Italy)
• Difficult discussions in the newly diagnosed developmental and epileptic encephalopathies - Neuropsychologist perspective - Timothy Ainger (USA)
• SUDEP counselling in newly diagnosed epilepsy – when, why and how? – Adam Strzelczyk (Germany)
• When epilepsy starts at senior age - issues beyond the seizures - Natela Okujava (Georgia)
• Making a hard talk easier - The role of IBE and ILAE - Gus Baker (United Kingdom)

 

Session title: Post-stroke epilepsy: prediction, prevention and implications for IGAP  

• Preventable epilepsies: focus on stroke and implications for IGAP - Alla Guekht (Russian Federation) 
• Metabolism and Ferroptosis in Epilepsy after stroke - Matthias Koepp (United Kingdom) 
• Latency of post-stroke epilepsy – does it matter? – Johan Zelan (Sweden)   
• Drugs for prevention of post-stroke epilepsy - Eugen Trinka (Austria) 

 

Session title: The thalamus and the epileptogenic networks  

• The cortico-subcortical epileptogenic networks - Ganne Chaitanya (USA) 
• What fMRI tell us about cortico-thalamic interactions in focal epilepsies. - Anna Elisabetta Vaudano (Italy) 
• Neurostimulation in epilepsy: only thalamus worth? - Kristl Vonck (Belgium) 
• Clinical aspects of thalamic involvement in seizures: insight from SEEG recordings - Fabrice Bartolomei (France) 

 

Session title: The impact of lamotrigine and topiramate in the past 30 years, and their new derivatives 

• The story of lamotrigine and topiramate  in epilepsy - Simon Shorvon (United Kingdom) 
• How lamotrigine and topiramate affected the development of new antiseizure drugs - Meir Bialer (Israel) 
• The current role of lamotrigine and topiramate in epilepsy treatment - Reetta Kalviainen (Finland) 
• Drug development based on similar mechanisms of action - Wolfgang Löscher (Germany) 

 

Session title: Closing the treatment gap in Dravet syndrome: approaches of the EJP-RD SCN1A-UP! Project 

• Current clinical treatments and needs for Dravet syndrome - Rima Nabbout (France) 
• Boosting homeostatic responses in DS models - Massimo Mantegazza (France) 
• Identifying and targeting pathologic remodeling - Daniëlle Compans (Belgium)  
• Human iPSCs-derived neurons for screens of therapeutic approaches in DS - Nael Nadif Kasri (Netherlands) 

 

Session title: Pathogenic role of demyelination in focal epilepsies and seizures  

• Neuron-OPC interactions regulating OPC proliferation, differentiation and myelination – Ragnhildur Thora Karadottir (United Kingdom) 
• Un/demyelinated axons and seizures - Laura Uva (Italy) 
• Demyelination in different forms of focal epilepsies - Eleonora Aronica (Netherlands) 
• Altered oligodendrocyte function in mild cortical malformation associated with epilepsy - Roland Coras (Germany)

 

Session title: Not all roads lead to SUDEP: Risk factors, biomarkers and prevention of premature death in epilepsy  

• The heart matters – altered cardiac properties and sudden cardiac death in epilepsy - Shobi Sivathamboo (Australia) 
• The fatal wave – spreading depolarization and lethal brain suppression - Jeff Noebels (USA) 
• Structural and functional abnormalities in SUDEP – Beate Diehl (United Kingdom) 
• Individual risk assessment – is it important for epilepsy management? - Roland Thijs (Netherlands) 

 

Session title: Treatment of seizures in neonates – something old, something new… 

• New approaches for the treatment of neonatal seizures - Wolfgang Löscher (Germany) 
• An old drug with new evidence - phenobarbital for the treatment of neonatal seizures - Ronit Pressler (United Kingdom) 
• Using extrapolation from older patients to inform drug development - Graeme Sills (United Kingdom)
• Implications of sex-differences in neonatal seizures for drug development - Shilpa D. Kadam (USA) 

 

Session title: Antiepileptogenesis and disease modification. Which populations, outcome measures and trial designs?   

• Using genomics to identify mechanisms and targets for antiepileptic and disease modifying drugs - Michael Johnson (United Kingdom) 
• Disease-modifying microRNA therapies entering preclinical development – Annamaria Vezzani (Italy)  
• Antiepileptogenisis after head injury. Challenges, trial designs and outcomes measures – Raimund Helbok (Austria)
• Disease modification following a first seizure: trial designs and outcomes - Tony Marson (United Kingdom) 

 

Session title: Anti-seizure vs disease-modifying epilepsy medicines: What is in a name?  

• Why we need to abandon “AED” as a term - Jacqueline French (USA) 
• What is a disease modifying epilepsy medicine? - Emilio Perucca (Australia) 
• Anti-seizure vs disease modifying mechanisms - Rossella Di Sapia (Italy) 
• Clinical trial designs to demonstrate disease modification - Lieven Lagae (Belgium) 

 

Session title: Breastfeeding in women with epilepsy  

• The prevalence and benefits of breastfeeding. Differ in women with epilepsy? - Bruna Nucera (Italy) 
• Drug excretion in breastmilk and drug concentrations in breastfed infants: General principles with emphasis on antiseizure medications - Ivana Kacirova (Czech Republic) 
• What we know and don’t know of antiseizure medications levels in breastfed women and exposure to the infant? - Torbjörn Tomson (Sweden)
• Cognitive outcomes in children of women taking antiseizure medications while breastfeeding - Rebecca Bromley (United Kingdom) 

 

Session title: Late onset epilepsy – a public health imperative  

• Pathogenesis of epilepsy in the elderly – The “Bermuda Triangle“ between Dementia, Depression and Sleep Disorder - Arjune Sen (United Kingdom) 
• Diagnostic challenges in the new onset epilepsy in the elderly - Taoufik Alsaadi (USA)
• Antiseizure Medicines for epilepsy in the elderly – Between Scylla and Charybdis - Eugen Trinka (Austria) 
• Can we predict and prevent epilepsy in the elderly? - Simona Lattanzi (Italy) 

 

Session title: Red flags for resective surgery following intracerebral investigation: how to predict poor outcome. 

• Red flags from the preimplantation evaluation - Birgit Frauscher (USA) 
• How do we know we have missed the seizure onset and is that a red flag? - Philippe Kahane (France) 
• Are widespread / multiple seizure onset zones necessarily a red flag? - Laura Tassi (Italy) 
• Can the incorporation of interictal markers improve surgical outcome prediction? - Stanislas Lagarde (France) 

 

Session title: Surgery for Hypothalamic Hamartoma: which technique?  

• Radiosurgery - Constantin Tuleasca (Switzerland) 
• Radiofrequency Thermocoagulation and Laser Interstitial Thermal therapy - Santiago Candela-Canto (Spain) 
• Endoscopic Disconnection - Alessandro De Benedictis (Italy) 
• Development of Standardized Management Guidelines: epilepsy surgery and beyond -Luca de Palma (Italy) 

 

Session title: Addressing challenges and opportunities in the globalization of epilepsy imaging  

• Introduction: globalization of epilepsy brain studies: modalities and countries - Sanjay Sisodiya (United Kingdom)   
• Machine learning approaches to global imaging studies - Erik Kaestner (USA)  
• Global approaches to cross-disorder analyses and methods: learning from beyond epilepsy -Sofie Valk (Germany)  
• Challenges and Perspectives of Obtaining MRIs in Resource-Limited regions - Arjune Sen (United Kingdom)

 

Session title: Advances in magnetoencephalography for the management of epilepsy   

• The current role of MEG within epilepsy surgery - Stefan Rampp (Germany) 
• Optically Pumped Magnetoencephalography in Epilepsy - Umesh Vivekananda (United Kingdom) 
• Using non-invasive MEG to elicit virtual intracranial EEG signals - TBA  
• Using MEG derived networks to predict post-surgical outcome - Peter Taylor (United Kingdom) 

 

Session title: Neuropsychology & epilepsy in developing brain

• Pediatric neuropsychology issues in complex epilepsy - Mary Lou Smith (Canada) 
• The assessment of severely impaired patients in rare epilepsy sindrome - Anna Lopez Sala (Spain)
• Cognitive outcome of preschool children after epilepsy surgery – Timothy Ainger (USA)
• Psychoeducational and psychological supports for children with epilepsy: what is the evidence? – Colin Reilly (Sweden)   

 

Session title: Minimal invasive non-medical treatment approaches

• Personalized multichannel transcranial direct current stimulation - Maeva Daoud (France)
• Epicranial Focal Cortex Stimulation for neuromodulation of the epileptic focus - Andreas Schulze-Bonhage (Germany)
• The spectrum of applications of LITT in the treatment of focal epilepsy - Rodrigo Rocamora (Spain)
• Thalamic stimulation for the treatment of epilepsy - Ido Strauss (Israel)

 

Session title: Epilepsy care for children living in under privileged areas around the world  

• The IGAP and children with epilepsy: how to move forward? - Alla Guekht (Russia) 
• Identification of current needs and priority gaps: results from two surveys and review of the current state of literature - Marietta Papadopoulou (France) 
• Creating action plans: the state of the art - Angela La Neve (Italy) 
• Finding solutions for potential implementation gaps - Jo Wilmshurst (South Africa) 

 

Session title: Are developmental and epileptic encephalopathies progressive diseases?  

• Are there clinical evidence of progression in genetic DEEs? - Ingrid Scheffer (Australia) 
• How do the EEG and neurophysiological findings evolve over time - Marina Trivisano (Italy) 
• Cognitive functions in DEE: what the long-term observation tells us. - Lieven Lagae (Belgium)
• What do the neuroimaging studies add to the evidence of progression – Renzo Guerrini (Italy) 

 

Session title: Epilepsy and aggression: from brain networks to human behavior  

• Violence and epilepsy: an historical and cultural perspective - Júlia Gyimesi (Hungary) 
• Peri-ictal aggressive behavior - Marco Mula (United Kingdom) 
• Ictal aggression networks: the SEEG contribution - Fabrice Bartolomei (France) 
• Violence during sleep: seizure or parasomnia? - Lino Nobili (Italy) 

 

Session title: Ictal-Interictal Continuum (IIC): Ictal or Interictal?   

• Is it clinically recognizable? – Gaetano Cantalupo (Italy)
• EEG challenges - Fabio Nascimento (USA) 
• The role of neuroimaging - Pilar Bosque-Varela (Austria) 
• How aggressively should we treat it? - Nicolas Gaspard (Belgium) 

 

Session title: Artifical intelligence and epilepsy  

• Overview on the use of artificial intelligence in epilepsy  - Stéphane Auvin (France) 
• Principles of machine learing: examples in the epilepsy field - Wesley Kerr (USA) 
• Identification of focal cortical dysplasia on MRI by AI - Sophie Adler (United Kingdom) 
• Identification of the epileptogenic zone on MRI by AI –Stefano Meletti (Italy) 

 

Session title: Assessing the impact of genetic diagnosis in clinical care of children and adults with epilepsy  

• Impact of Genetic Testing on Therapeutic Decision-Making in Childhood-Onset Epilepsies - Allan Bayat (Denmark) 
• Genetic Diagnosis Impacts Medical Management for Adult-onset Epilepsies - Danielle Andrade (Canada)
• Does the genetic diagnosis in adults with DEE matter? – Francesca Bisulli (Italy) 
• Real-life survey of pitfalls and successes of precision medicine in children and adults with genetic epilepsies - Simona Balestrini (Italy) 

 

Session title: Computational neuroimaging in epilepsy: from algorithms to bedside   

• Multimodal Image Integration for presurgical planning - Irene Wang (USA) 
• Multimodal imaging and SEEG for epileptogenic network delineation - Maxime Guye (France) 
• Open access pipelines for multimodal data fusion, brain connectomics, and presurgical diagnostics in epilepsy patients - Boris Bernhardt (Canada) 
• Multimodal imaging integration: met and unmet needs in clinical setting – Çiğdem Özkara (Turkey) 

 

Session title: Breakthrough research in FDS: Clinical, biological and therapeutic advances  

• Introduction: Why change the terminology of Psychogenic non epileptic seizures to Functional/Dissociative seizures - Coraline Hingray (France) 
• Clinical developments in Functional/Dissociative seizures - Chrisma Pretorius (South Africa) 
• Neurobiological advances Functional/Dissociative seizures - Irene Faiman (United Kingdom)
• Therapeutic implications in Functional/Dissociative seizures - W Curt LaFrance, Jr. (USA)

 

Title: EAN Symposium 

• The role of EEG in diagnosis, monitoring and outcome prediction in autoimmune encephalitis – Stephan Rüegg (Switzerland) 
• The role of EEG in diagnosis and prognosis of coma – Michel van Putten (Netherlands) 
• The role of postsurgical long-tern video-EEG as predictive outcome parameter compared to routine EEG – Bernhard J Steinhoff (Germany) 
• The role of AI in EEG interpretation – Sándor Beniczky (Denmark) 

 

Title: Neurobiology Symposium - Integrating genomics, neurophysiology, and precision medicine.  

• The future of ASM use: Integrating genomics, neurophysiology and precision medicine – Raman Sankar (USA) 
• Mechanisms, targets and therapies in Na+ and Ca2+ channel-related epileptic disorders – Holger Lerche (Germany) 
• How are functional studies guiding our choice of antiseizure medication for GABA-related disorders? – Rikke Møller (Denmark)  
• Integrating pharmacology, electrophysiology, in vitro and in vivo models for KCNQ2-related epileptic disorders – Sarah Weckhuysen (Belgium) 

 

Session title: ERN EpiCARE and Clinical Trials in children with Rare and Complex Epilepsies

• A critical review of the recent European Medicines Agency Guidelines – Emilio Perucca (Australia)  
• Towards designs adapted to primary endpoints, better reflecting the needs - Floor Jansen (Netherlands) 
• The added value of the European Consortium for Epilepsy Trials (ECET) - Alexis Arzimanoglou (Spain) 
• Trials for repurposed drugs and precision medicine – how, when and by whom? - Lieven Lagae (Belgium)

 

Session title: Ettore Beghi in Memoriam 

• In memoriam – J Helen Cross (United Kingdom) 
• Epidemiology/burden of disease – Gunter Kramer (Switzerland) 
• Acute symptomatic seizures – Samuel Wiebe (Canada) 
• SUDEP - Torbjörn Tomson (Sweden)  
• Neuropsychiatry comorbidities in epilepsy – Massimiliano Beghi (Italy) 

 

Session title: Symposium of Excellence in Epileptology  

• The classification of epilepsies: A Veteran Peadiatric Epileptologist's View - Athanasios Covanis (Greece)
• European Young Investigator Award 2024 - Gabriele Lignani (United Kingdom)
• Exploring Deep Phenotyping in Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies: Unraveling the Complexity - Marina Trivisano (Italy)

 

Session title: Congress Highlights Session 

• Paediatrics Highlights - Nicola Specchio (Italy) 
• Pharmacology Highlights – Cecilie Johannessen Landmark (Norway) 
• Clinical Highlights – Laura Tassi (Italy) 
• Basic Science Highlights – Elenora Aronica (Netherlands)  
• Neurosurgery Highlights – Christian Dorfer (Austria)  
• Psychology Highlights – Sallie Baxendale (United Kingdom)  

Session title: Modern Concepts in Epilepsy Surgery  

Lobar/multilobar resection versus disconnection 

• Periinsular anterior quadrantotomy: Technical description - Roy Thomas Daniel (Switzerland) 
• Frontal lobe resection - Jorge Gonzalez-Martinez (USA) 
• Posterior quadrant disconnections - Thilo Kalbhenn (Germany) 
• Posterior quadrant resection - Francesco Cardinale (Italy) 
• Temporal lobe disconnection - TBC
• Temporal lobe resection - Anna Miserocchi (United Kingdom) 
• The role of MRI in evaluating the completeness of disconnection - Horst Urbach (Germany) 

 

Round table discussion 

The earlier the better- surgical implications 

• Anatomic hemispherectomy in very young children - Mark Dexter (Australia)
• Anaesthesiological challenges and possibilities for epilepsy surgery in very young infants - Stefan Eckert (Germany)
• Trends in pediatric epilepsy surgery in the last 20 years: age and country- specific variability - Carmen Barba (Italy) 
• Epilepsy surgery for non-drug resistant patients - Laura Tassi (Italy) 
• Surgery for LEATS - TBC

Round table discussion 

Technology in Epilepsy surgery 

• TBD - Luca de Palma (Italy) 
• Current concepts and future perspectives in neuromodulation - Arthur Cukiert (Brazil) 
• The value of robotic applications in epilepsy surgery - Martin Tisdall (United Kingdom) 
• Current role and future perspectives of LITT in Europe - Karl Rössler (Austria) 
• Potentials and Limitations of MRI guided focused ultrasound in the treatment of epilepsy - Gordon Baltuch (USA) 

Round table discussion 

08.00-17.15 Full-day Teaching Course: Neuroimaging in epilepsy - what the clinician should know  

• Introduction to neuroimaging in epilepsy – Anna Elisabetta Vaudano (Italy) 
• MRI physics, sequence names, and MRI epilepsy protocol – Stefan Rampp (Germany) 
• MRI protocol and hints for neonates and infants – Felice D’Arco (Canada)  
• Common epileptic pathologies: temporal epilepsy – TBA 
• Common epileptic pathologies: extratemporal lobe epilepsy – Britta Wandschneider (United Kingdom) 
• Hands-on session – All Speakers 
• MRI-negative epilepsy. What are the next steps? – TBA 
• Other neuroimaging modalities: PET, SPECT, ASL – Lorenzo Caciagli (Italy) 
• fMRI (task-based)  & EEG-Fmri – Paolo Federico (Canada) 
• Diffusion imaging, presurgical image fusion – TBA 
• Hands-on session – All Speakers 
• Group discussion/feedback – All Speakers 

 

Neonatal EEG boot camp 

Short description: The aim of this teaching course is to improve participants’ knowledge in neonatal EEG. In this interactive teaching session, speakers will emphasize key concepts of normal EEG maturation as well as EEG abnormalities seen in different types of brain injury seen in term and preterm infants, neonatal seizures and DEE with onset in the neonatal period. 

Co-Chairs: Ronit Pressler (United Kingdom) and Monika Eisermann (France) 

AM 

• Normal EEG in the neonate - Alexandre Datta (Switzerland) 
• EEG of brain injury in preterm infants - Sushma Goyal (United Kingdom) 
• EEG of brain injury in term infants - Geraldine Boylan (Ireland) 
• EEG in neonatal seizures incl epilepsies - Ronit Pressler (United Kingdom) 
• Use of aEEG and qEEG in the NICU - Cecil Hahn (Canada) 

 

PM 

• Normal EEG in the neonate - Alexandre Datta (Switzerland) 
• Brain injury in term and preterm Infants - Geraldine Boylan (Ireland) 
• EEG in neonatal seizures - Ronit Pressler (United Kingdom) 
• EEG in self-limited neonatal epilepsies - TBA 
• EEG in early onset DEEs - Monika Eisermann (France)  

 

Half-day Teaching Course: Let´s read EEGs together! 

Short description: In the first part, the following theoretical blocks will be addressed: how to localize an EEG abnormality, interictal patterns, ictal patterns, normal variants and artefacts. In the second part, the tutors will read representative EEG samples together with the students.  

 Chair: Sándor Beniczky (Denmark) 

• Background activity and interictal abnormalities (identification & localization) - Sándor Beniczky (Denmark) 
• EEG in epilepsy syndromes - Dana Craiu (Romania) 
• Normal variants and artifacts - Fabio Nascimento (USA) 
• ictal abnormalities and correlation with semiology - Margitta Seeck (Switzerland) 

 

Half-day Teaching Course: Neuropsychology for neurologists 

Short description: This course provides an overview of the role of neuropsychological assessments and interventions in both clinical and research settings. It is designed for neurologists, neurophysiologists and other professions working with people with epilepsy.  

Chair: Sallie Baxendale (United Kingdom) 

• Sallie Baxendale  (United Kingdom) 
• Timothy Ainger (USA) 
• Sarah Wilson (Australia) 
• TBA

 

Half-day Teaching Course: Syndrome Classification 

Short description: 

This interactive session will use a case-based approach to new ILAE Syndrome classification.  
Co-chairs: Elaine Wirrell (USA) & Nicola Specchio  (Italy) 

• Syndromes with onset in Neonates/Infants - Nicola Specchio (Italy) 
• Syndromes with onset in Children - Elaine Wirrell (USA) 
• Syndromes with Onset at a Variable Age - Simona Balestrini (Italy) 
• IGEs and GGE syndromes - Edouard Hirsch (France) 

 

Optimizing pharmacotherapy in epilepsy. 

Half-day Teaching Course: Which ASM to start with? When to stop? 

Short description: 
This session will address the choice of first ASM and discuss the factors that are important for making this decision. In addition, the speakers will discuss the way the ASMs are introduced, when and how to stop them, and the options after the first and second failed ASM. 

Chairs: Torbjörn Tomson (Sweden) and Stéphane Auvin (France) 

• First ASM children - Stéphane Auvin (France) 
• First ASM adults - Anthony Marson (United Kingdom) 
• Uptitration and dose optimization - Torbjörn Tomson (Sweden) 
• Strategy when 1st monotherapy fails switch or add-on a debate – Anthony Marson (United Kingdom) and Jacqueline French (USA) 
• Which ASM to consider if 1st monotherapy fails - Jacqueline French (USA) 
• What is the role of the newest ASMs? - Michael Sperling (USA) 
• Stopping ASM treatment in seizure free children - Stéphane Auvin (France) 
• Stopping ASM treatment in seizure free adults - Torbjörn Tomson (Sweden) 

 

Half-day Teaching Course: Epilepsy surgery: learn from cases! 

Short description: 
This session will describe the challenges of presurgical evaluation, using case-based learning. 

Co-chairs: Ivan Rektor (Czech Republic) & Birgit Frauscher (USA) 

• MR negative epilepsy - Ivan Rektor (Czech Republic) 
• Standard resective vs. minimally invasive procedures - Philippe Ryvlin (Switzerland) 
• Important semiological considerations for epilepsy surgery - Philippe Kahane (France) 
• SEEG-informed surgery: do's and dont's - Birgit Frauscher (USA) 
• Specific pediatric considerations in epilepsy surgery - Julia Jacobs (Canada) 

 

Half-day Teaching Course: Status epilepticus  

Short description: 
This session will provide an overview of challenges diagnosing classifying and treating a highly dynamic condition, using case-based learning. 

Co-chairs: Eugen Trinka (Austria) & Simon Shorvon (United Kingdom) 

• Definitions and epidemiology of status epilepticus – Eugen Trinka (Austria) 
• Investigation and causes of status epilepticus – Giada Giovannini (Italy) 
• Treatment of early and established status epilepticus – Simon Shorvon (United Kingdom)  
• Treatment of refractory and super-refractory status epilepticus – TBA 

 

Half-day Teaching Course: Implementing epilepsy genetics in clinical practice  

Short description: 
This session will give an overview on the clinical use of genetic testing in patients with epilepsy. 

Co-Chairs: Guido Rubboli (Denmark) and Ingrid Scheffer (Australia)

• Why and when should I perform genetic testing in my patients? – Ingrid Scheffer (Australia)
• Selecting the right genetic test for my patient and how to interpret the results - Rikke S. Møller (Denmark)
• Common variants: the next frontier of genetic testing - Karen Oliver (Australia)
• “Precision medicine” in genetic epilepsies: hype or hope? – Amy McTague (United Kingdom)
• Implementing genetic testing to transform clinical medicine – Andreas Brunklaus (United Kingdom)

VIREPA Basic & Advanced EEG 

• Elena Gardella (Denmark) 
• Antonio Valentin (United Kingdom) 

 

VIREPA Paediatric EEG & VIREPA MRI 

• Monika Eisermann (France) 
• Stefan Rampp (Germany) 

 

Advanced EEG: source imaging  

• Sándor Beniczky (Denmark)
• Stefan Rampp (Germany) 
• Margitta Seeck  (Switzerland) 

 

Video session – paediatric 

• Ronit Pressler (United Kingdom) 
• Nicola Specchio (Italy) 
• Alexis Arzimanoglou (France) 

 Video session – adult 

• Guido Rubboli (Denmark) 
• Matthew Walker (United Kingdom) 
• Laura Tassi (Italy) 

Immunity, inflammation and epilepsy 

• The immunology underlying of autoimmune epilepsies - Sarosh Irani (United Kingdom) 
• Epileptogenic mechanisms of human autoantibodies - Christian Geis (Germany) 
• Management of patients with suspected autoimmune epilepsy - Christian Bien (Germany) 
• Autoimmune epilepsy in paediatric patients - Sukhvir Wright (United Kingdom) 

 

Epileptic encephalopathies 

• Federico Vigevano (Italy) 
• Alexis Arzimanoglou (France) 
• J Helen Cross (United Kingdom) 
• Ingrid Scheffer (Australia) 

 

Ictal Semiology of Gelastic Seizures: a clue for aetiology?  

• Gelastic Seizures: overview - Julia Makhalova-Scholly (France)
• TBC – Gaetano Cantalupo (Italy)
• Brain network of happiness, smile, and laughter - Thomas Grunwald (Switzerland)  
• Detailed Analysis of Ictal semiology in Gelastic Seizures - Laura Mirandola (Italy) 

Title: ILAE Wikipedia Workshop - ILAE Publication Council: How the ILAE Wikipedia project affects AI and Epilepsy knowledge: "You can contribute" 

• How to publish and review in Epilepsia and Epilepsy Open: Publishing - Michael Sperling (USA)
• How to publish and review in Epilepsia and Epilepsy Open: Publishing – Aristea Galanopoulou (USA)
• The importance of Wikipedia as repository for AI - Samuel Wiebe (Canada)
• Our experience with improving articles on Wikipedia - Nandan Yardi (India)
• Let's learn to edit on Wikipedia - Amin Azzam (USA)
• Contributing to Wikipedia– Jonah Fox (USA)

Session 1 

Session title: Brainstorming session   
Sunday:   
Moderator: Rossella Di Sapia (Italy)  
Gut Brain Axis & Epilepsy - Carmen De Caro (Italy) and Dafni Hadjieconomou (France)  

Monday:  

Moderator: Ruba Al-Ramadhani (USA)   
Acute symptomatic seizures - Julia Jacobs (Canada) and Ronit Pressler (United Kingdom)  

Tuesday:  
Moderator: Margarita Maltseva (Germany)  

Will Artificial Intelligence replace epileptologist? - Wesley Kerr (USA) and Boris Bernhardt (Canada)  

Wednesday:  
Moderator: Marietta Papadopoulou (France)  
Climate change and neurological disorders in Childhood - Sanjay Sisodiya (United Kingdom) and Alessandra Rossi (Italy).   

  

Session 2  

Session title: Career Development   

Sunday:  
Moderator: Alina Ivanuik (USA)  
“Ask me anything” with ILAE Europe Chair - Matthew Walker (United Kingdom)  

Monday:  
Moderator: Eugenia Roza (Romania)  
Transitioning from clinics/academia to industry – Caroline Neuray (Austria/Belgium) and Wolfgang Löscher (Germany)  

Tuesday:  
Moderator: Robert Terziev (Switzerland)  
Writing Skills: Answering the reviewers’ comments – Emilio Perucca (Italy/Australia)  
  

Session 3  

Session title: Career Development   

Structured interview (standard questions plus open questions from audience) with two people each afternoon, focusing on career development (e.g. (i) value of leadership and conflict management; (ii) mentoring and being a mentee; (iii) personal achievement and group achievement) 

Sunday:   
Moderator: Christos Lisgaras (Greece)  
Interview - Simon Shorvon (United Kingdom) and Katja Kobow (Germany)  

Monday:   
Moderator: Sebastian Ortiz de la Rosa (Denmark)  
Interview – Meir Bialer (Israel) and Stéphanie Baulac (France)  
Tuesday:  
Moderator: Eleni Nikalexi (Germany)  
Interview - Federico Vigevano (Italy) and J Helen Cross (United Kingdom)