Podcast Reporters

Alina Ivaniuk, MD

Adult neurology resident, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA

Headshot of Alina Ivaniuk

Research/clinical interests: Genetics of epilepsy, focal lesional epilepsies, precision medicine in epilepsy

ILAE/YES activities: I am past Vice-Chair of the Young Epilepsy Section of the ILAE and involved in YES activities. I also am serving on ILAE’s Career Development Commission, Technology Task Force, and Emergency Response (Ukraine) Task Force.

Anything else you would like to share? I am passionate about science communication and teaching. My favorite part of the patient encounter is educating people about their diagnosis and management options, and I just cannot let any younger colleague go without sharing some bits of professional or life knowledge with them. I have also been involved in a couple of popular science projects in the past.

Besides that, I am quite esthetically oriented. My favorite part of drafting a case presentation or scientific poster is selecting a color palette and fonts. If I am not in the clinic, gym, kitchen, or bed, you will likely find me either exploring the local art museum or at my desk busy with drawing or graphic design.

Podcast episodes:

 

Maryam Nabavi Nouri, MSc, MD, FRCPC

Pediatric epileptologist; assistant professor at Western University, Ontario, Canada

Headshot of Maryam Nouri

Research/clinical interests: My clinical and research interests include autoimmune epilepsy, advanced presurgical diagnostics such as multimodal neuroimaging, machine learning and global burden of epilepsy.

ILAE/YES activities: Active member since 2020

Anything else you would like to share? I am an avid biker and snowboarder and believe in efficiency and speed, all of which I need to get better at!

Podcast episodes:

 

Cecilie Gjessing Nome, MD

PhD Candidate, GliaLab, University of Oslo, Norway

Headshot of Cecilie Gjessing Nome

Research/clinical interests: Glial cells, the neurobiology of seizures and sleep, epileptogenesis and EEG.

ILAE/YES activities: Sharp Waves Podcast team, YES treasurer

Anything else you would like to share? I am passionate about science communication and making science accessible to the general public. In my free time, I enjoy spending quality time with my dog and diving into popular science books.

Podcast episodes:

 

Parthvi Ravat, MD, Doctorate of National Board of India (Neurology)

Fellow, Department of Neurology, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, Australia

Headshot of Parthvi Ravat - podcast reporter

Research/clinical interests: Epilepsy and the use of technology in improving patient care, autoimmune epilepsy, presurgical evaluation, pathophysiology of functional seizures. The best part of my clinic is listening to patient experiences of overcoming epilepsy, against all odds, with either medicine or surgery.

ILAE/YES activities: ILAE-YES Communications and Interactive Media Task Force leader and study group leader for ILAE-YES Asia & Oceania Epilepsy Surgery study group. Organized an educational webinar series on invasive EEG for YES Asia & Oceania

Anything else you would like to share? Living on two continents with different cultures has been an incredible journey, broadening and sharpening my clinical perspective in neurology. Besides work, fitness and family time, I also enjoy understanding equity markets and performing fundamental analysis for businesses in various sectors. 

Podcast episodes:

 

Ayushe Sharma, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, Blumenfeld Lab, Yale University (USA)

Headshot of Ayushe Sharma

Research/clinical interests: My research has progressed from studying brain temperature and microstructure abnormalities in seizure disorders and brain injuries to investigating subcortical and cortical networks underlying attention and perception. I am particularly interested in thalamic contributions to cognitive impairments in temporal lobe epilepsy and the development of brain-based interventions to improve cognitive outcomes in these patients.

ILAE/YES activities: Sharp Waves podcast team

Anything else you would like to share? Outside the lab, I am passionate about making neuroscience more accessible to broader audiences. During my PhD, I was part of a team of three that hosted and produced a podcast for Knowing Neurons, highlighting neuroscientists’ and neurologists’ personal journeys in neuroscience and science communication. In my free time, I enjoy mixology, woodworking, and vegetable gardening, as well as traveling with my husband to discover new cultures and cuisines.

Podcast episode:

 

Ching Soong Khoo, MD, FRCP

Consultant neurologist and associate professor of neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Ching Soong Khoo

Research/clinical interests: Clinical epileptology, in particular status epilepticus, non-pharmacological treatment for epilepsy, comorbidities of epilepsy

ILAE/YES activities: YES Conferences Task Force Leader, 2023 – 2025; Scientific Organizing Committee member, 36th International Epilepsy Congress (2025); Member of Emergency Treatment Task Force, Prioritization Task Force, ILAE Care Pathways Task Force, Acute Symptomatic Seizures Task Force, and Updated Seizure Classification Task Force

Anything else you would like to share? I love meeting new people and making new friends – I think everyone has a story to tell. I enjoy travelling to different parts of the world – each destination has its own story.

Podcast episode:

 

Past Reporters

Anca Arbune, MD, PhD

Neurology physician and researcher, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania

Headshot of Anca Arbune

Research/clinical interests: Epilepsy, invasive presurgical evaluation of epilepsy, epilepsy surgery, autonomic changes during seizures, women with epilepsy, wearable devices for epilepsy, epilepsy secondary to neuroinfections, autoimmune epilepsy, sleep disorders, rare neurological diseases

ILAE/YES activities: Pocket cards and the podcast team

Anything else you would like to share? The epilepsy field is dynamic and intriguing, with new insights into the occurrence, manifestation, and treatment of this disease coming nearly every day. It is just one of the reasons I became so interested in the subject and pursued a career in this direction. I hope that one day I can make a substantial contribution to the field. I also look forward to any collaboration and discussion on any of the above-mentioned subjects of interest: more brains are always better than a single one in brewing up ideas or solutions to old problems.

Podcast episodes:

 

Emma G. Carter, MD

Pediatric Neurologist and Epileptologist, Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN, USA

Headshot of Emma G. Carter, MD

Research/clinical interests: My clinical and research interests include drug-resistant pediatric epilepsy, pediatric epilepsy surgery, genetics of epilepsy, fetal and neonatal neurology, and residency and fellow education.

ILAE/YES activities: Sharp Waves Podcast team

Anything else you would like to share? My favorite part of the job is working in a multidisciplinary setting with learners in various stages of their education. The best way to learn is to teach, and I can certainly say I'm always learning from our students, residents, and fellows. Off the job, I love spending time with my family and enjoying the outdoors. 

Podcast episodes:

 

Bruna Nucera, MD

Neurologist, Epilepsy Centre of the Department of Neurology, Franz Tappeiner Hospital, Meran, Italy

Headshot of Bruna Nucera

Research/clinical interests: My clinical research is focused on the cognitive aspects of the disease, the study of alternative treatments of medication-resistant epilepsy, and the management of women with epilepsy, including pregnancy. 

ILAE/YES activities: I have been a leader of the Education and Career Development Task Force in the Italian YES chapter since 2019. I am a member of the Gender and Epilepsy Task Force of the Italian League Against Epilepsy, and a member of ILAE’s Pregnancy and Women Task Force.

Anything else you would like to share? I’m the author or co-author of scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and carry out congresses and research activities in the field of epileptology. In 2021, I taught at the first Evidence-Based Epilepsy School in Meran.

Podcast episodes:

 

Laurent Sheybani, MD, PhD

Post-doctoral fellow of the Swiss National Science Foundation, Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, University College London, London, United Kingdom 

Headshot of Laurent Sheybani

Research/clinical interests: My focus in research is epileptology, and in particular the link between slow oscillatory activity, neuronal activity and occurrence of epileptic activity, including interictal discharges and seizures. To address these questions, I use advanced neurophysiological tools to probe slow oscillations together with multi- and single unit activity in the human brain. In clinic, I am interested in epileptology and somnology. I am particularly interested in how seizures are modulated by the sleep-wake cycle.

ILAE/YES activities: I am a member of the YES Interactive Media Task Force.

Anything else you would like to share? I like hiking, skiing, and race biking. I also play the piano and saxophone.

Podcast episodes:

 

Patricia Saletti, MSc, PhD

Program officer, Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, New York City, USA

Patricia Saletti

Research/clinical interests: Interested in the identification of biomarkers to diagnose epilepsy post-trauma, and potential preventive pharmacological treatment for post-traumatic epilepsy

ILAE/YES activities: Head of YES Interactive Media Task Force

Podcast episodes (2021 - 2022):