CURE Update: Epilepsy Research Needs You
| Greetings CURE community,
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to dominate our lives, CURE is focusing on long-term impacts for epilepsy research. Current CURE Grantees are finding ways to continue their studies, but with severe restrictions on laboratory access, many researchers have had to limit or stop their work. Consequently, research projects will be delayed or may even be terminated altogether.
Reduced funding from institutions and government agencies also threaten the success of projects. Scientists must now not only pay their teams’ salary and manage day-to-day lab costs, but also cover unexpected expenses related to sanitation and employee protection. CURE founder, Susan Axelrod, and I further discuss the impacts of quarantine on the research community in this statement, which we encourage you to read.
The fact is that epilepsy hasn’t stopped, and neither have we. People with epilepsy and their families can’t afford for progress to be slowed or halted. Now more than ever, it is critical for CURE to continue awarding grants to dedicated scientists searching for cures. Your support enables us to fund these innovators and generate real progress. Please make your gift today to ensure a future filled with research-driven discoveries.
In addition to helping us fund future research, here are other ways you can get involved or learn more about our work:
Be well,
Beth Lewin Dean, CEO |
 Stay Fit with ReSearching for a CURE: A Virtual Scavenger Hunt
Register
Are you up for a fitness challenge that supports epilepsy research? Sign up to be a part of ReSearching for a CURE: A Virtual Scavenger Hunt! We’re challenging all participating individuals or teams to hit 260,000 steps in four weeks, with a program-wide goal of 26 million steps, in honor of the one in 26 Americans who will develop epilepsy in their lifetimes. Any physical activity is welcome and will earn you steps!
As you digitally travel around the world during this four-week challenge, you will uncover exciting research findings and collect passport stamps. Do you think you can find all six? Assemble your team, register, and get your game face on. ReSearching for a CURE: A Virtual Scavenger Hunt officially starts on July 20. |
 Surveys: Epilepsy and Risks during COVID-19
Patient Survey | Caregiver Survey
Researchers at Oxford University are conducting surveys to better understand what risks people with epilepsy are facing, and what support they have to help them live well with the condition, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. All the information collected will remain anonymous.
If you are a person with epilepsy or a caregiver, please take 10-20 minutes to fill out the appropriate survey. Your responses help improve the quality of care for people with epilepsy around the world. |
 Introducing Our New CURE Grantees!
Learn More
We are delighted to introduce you to three newly funded CURE researchers, Drs. Detlev Boison, Chris McGraw, and James Gugger! Each researcher has a unique perspective and focus. Dr. Boison has been researching ways to prevent epilepsy for 25 years; Dr. McGraw, is a an epilepsy research fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital studying epilepsy genetics; Dr. Gugger is an epilepsy fellow at the University of Pennsylvania exploring a novel way to assess a person’s risk of developing post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE).
We are thrilled to add these promising projects to the more than 240 grants we’ve awarded in 15 countries to date. |
 Catching Up with Former CURE Grantee Dr. Gemma Carvill
Learn More
Dr. Gemma Carvill became part of the CURE research family in 2015 when she was awarded a Taking Flight grant. Since then her work has flourished. She is now a leader in epilepsy genetic research and runs a lab at Northwestern University.
Recently, she partnered with Dr. Gaetan Lesca in Italy for another CURE-funded study. Together, they discovered a new genetic cause of severe childhood epilepsy; a mutation of the CUX2 gene. Now her lab is exploring a possible new biomarker for epilepsy, which could make diagnostic testing less invasive, transforming clinical care. |
 New from Seizing Life®, a CURE Podcast
Listen or Watch
Catch up on the latest episodes of the Seizing Life podcast where we discuss:
- The balance between independence and safety for young adults with epilepsy. Listen or Watch
- How PhD student Christin Godale went from doing everything she could to hide her epilepsy to actively advocating and researching for a cure. Listen or Watch
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