Epigraph Vol. 9 Issue 1, Winter 2007

From the Information Officer

Quill Pen

Welcome to the latest edition of Epigraph, the newsletter of the International League Against Epilepsy. The first article of this issue is a fascinating and scholarly exposition by Dr Louisa Rocha about Pedro de Horta, a pioneering physician who moved to Mexico in the middle of the XIIIth Century and who wrote on the subject of epilepsy. This is an account of an extraordinary man and extraordinary events, and I am grateful to Dr Rocha for sending this to Epigraph.

I also highlight the new online bibliography which is now available on the ILAE Website. This online database consists of epilepsy books compiled by Dr Yukio Fukuyama from Tokyo. All those who know Dr Fukuyama’s work will appreciate his kindness in allowing this to be featured on the Website in a database format that can be searched and updated. It seems to me that this is exactly the sort of information that should be available via the ILAE Website and it is a pleasure to draw attention to it.

Another article here concerns the antiepileptic drug database which is a new entry on the ILAE Website. This is a comprehensive database of antiepileptic drug availability (names and brands) in different countries of the world. It has been drawn up by Bob Fisher and is a superb and useful piece of work.

I also would like to mention the announcement in this issue from Eurepa about a new series of ILAE-initiated summer schools in the Baltic region, which are part of the new educational agenda of the ILAE. These should be excellent events and hopefully their progress will be the subject of future reports in Epigraph. Other ILAE activities mentioned in this newsletter include conferences and prizes and show the extent and quality of ILAE activities. It is indeed a dynamic and evolving organisation.

Epigraph has been published since 1994 and I am stepping down from its editorship to concentrate more on the larger and more difficult task of editing Epilepsia. The next online issue will be edited by the new ILAE Information Officer (soon to be appointed by ILAE President, Peter Wolf). I would like to pass my best wishes on to the new editor and look forward to an improved and expanded newsletter. In recent years, my editorship has been supported by Mr Christer Osterling, Website Project Manager, at the ILAE headquarters in Hartford. Christer has done outstanding service and has overseen all the recent improvements and innovations in Epigraph and the Website. I would like to record my personal thanks to Christer here for his sterling work, and to the many others in the ILAE worldwide who have assisted me in ILAE Information Officer work during my tenure.

Simon Shorvon
ILAE Information Officer and Editor of Epigraph