Season’s greetings! Not only is it the holiday season, but it is the season of giving and many of you helped us kick it off by participating in #GivingTuesday. Thank you for supporting critically needed epilepsy research — your gifts are more important than ever.
With the challenges that the epilepsy research community has faced during the pandemic, CURE Epilepsy has worked hard to not only maintain our funding commitments, but to also lean-in by dedicating additional funds to support the epilepsy research community. We were delighted to recently announce 8 new CURE Epilepsy and Taking Flight grant awards, which included 1 additional Taking Flight grant. We will also be sharing exciting news about 14 newly created Epilepsy Research Continuity grants which we developed to help researchers with the unexpected costs related to the pandemic, all of which is made possible by you, our generous donors.
With or without this pandemic, your ongoing support is essential for CURE Epilepsy to continue funding vital epilepsy research. If you have not made your year-end gift, please take a minute to do so now. We appreciate gifts of all sizes — together, they make an incredible difference.
Together we can achieve a world without seizures.
Warmest,
Beth Lewin Dean, CEO
Please read below to see this month’s updates on:
- Infantile Spasms Awareness Week
- CURE Epilepsy Discovery
- American Epilepsy Society (AES) Hoyer Lecture
- Partners Against Mortality in Epilepsy (PAME) Virtual Conference
- AmazonSmile
- CURE Epilepsy Scholarships
- What’s New from the Seizing Life® podcast
Infantile Spasms Awareness Week is December 1-7
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Infantile spasms (IS) is a medical emergency. Quick diagnosis and treatment of this severe form of pediatric epilepsy is vital to reduce the long-term impact these seizures can have on a baby’s developing brain. However, getting a child appropriate care during the critical time when the seizures first begin is a challenge because the movements can be subtle and are often overlooked or misdiagnosed as colic or reflux.
During Infantile Spasms Awareness Week, we encourage you to learn more about how to identify IS and share these resources with your family and friends.
CURE Epilepsy Discovery: CURE Epilepsy Infantile Spasms Initiative – Using Team Science to Discover New Targets
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Launched in 2013, the CURE Epilepsy Infantile Spasms Initiative used a team science approach to advance findings that could lead to better treatments for IS. Working together, eight research teams from different institutions helped identify promising targets and therapeutic interventions. The findings from the IS Initiative have led to 19 publications to date, 7 additional manuscripts in preparation, 3 federal grants from the NIH, and a patent.
In addition, insights from the project’s team science approach have been invaluable in helping better understand approaches to accelerate basic research, which have been applied to CURE Epilepsy’s ongoing Post-Traumatic Epilepsy Initiative, funded by the US Department of Defense.
American Epilepsy Society (AES) Hoyer Lecture – December 4, 2020 2:15 – 3:45 PM ET
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On December 4, take part in a rare opportunity to hear the 18th Judith Hoyer Lecture in Epilepsy, which is part of AES’s annual meeting. The lecture combines discussion of the state-of-the-art in a specific area of epilepsy coupled with the impact it may have on health care delivery. This year the lecture will focus on Status Epilepticus: Progress and Challenges, and be presented by Shlomo Shinnar, MD, PhD, FAES of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The event is free of cost.
Partners Against Mortality in Epilepsy (PAME) Virtual Session – December 7
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Join the PAME live stream on Monday, December 7 at 2:30 PM ET for a two-hour virtual session. This event will feature Victor and Libby Boyce, who lost their son Cameron to SUDEP at the age of 20, updates on new research and advocacy recommendations, and a review of Vital Topics in Epilepsy Mortality.
You can join the livestream at www.pameonline.org/2020. This event it is free of cost.
Support CURE Epilepsy by Shopping with AmazonSmile
Shop Here
Tis the season to buy presents for loved ones! When you shop on Amazon with AmazonSmile, you can help fund critically needed epilepsy research. So, as you start your holiday shopping, please go to the AmazonSmile portal at smile.amazon.com and make CURE Epilepsy your charity of choice.
CURE Epilepsy Scholarships
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CURE Epilepsy is helping young scholars become agents of change for the epilepsy community with Education Enrichment Fund (EEF) scholarships of up to $5,000! Applications will be available on our website beginning Tuesday, December 15.
EEF scholarships support coursework in scholars’ chosen fields, so they can use their knowledge and skills to serve as agents of change in the epilepsy community. This one-time scholarship is awarded to those living with epilepsy or to family members and caregivers of those impacted by epilepsy.
EEF scholarships are made possible by the generous support of Greenwich Biosciences.
New from Seizing Life, A CURE Epilepsy Podcast
Catch up on the latest episodes of our Seizing Life podcast, listen as we share:
- A Veteran’s Battle with Post-Traumatic Epilepsy: Former U.S. Army Captain Patrick Horan’s and his wife Patty discuss his experiences after a near-fatal injury, which resulted in years of rehab and Post-Traumatic Epilepsy. Watch or listen
- The Impact of COVID-19 on Epilepsy Research: Mike Coburn of Research!America discusses the short-term and long-term impacts of the pandemic on scientific research. Watch or listen
