August 4, 2020

CURE Update: Investing in Research During COVID-19

Greetings CURE community,

Last month, I wrote to you about the serious challenges facing the epilepsy research community as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As scientists slowly return to their labs, they are incurring unanticipated costs due to new requirements around personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitation, supplies and materials that are no longer usable, and supplemental salaries for staff. These unexpected costs are jeopardizing the completion of currently funded epilepsy research.

To support the dedicated scientists whose research is most vulnerable, CURE is launching the Epilepsy Research Continuity Fund (ERCF), made possible by the generous support of the Cotton Family in memory of Vivian Cotton. The ERCF will make available a total of $350,000 to researchers with active epilepsy studies to help them continue their work during the pandemic.

CURE aims to retain and support researchers who are dedicated to finding cures for epilepsy. While the pandemic has slowed down our world in many ways, epilepsy has not stopped and our research must continue.

In addition to supporting critical research projects, we will continue to support you – our community. In this update, please find:

Get a Move On: ReSearching for a CURE Ends in Two Weeks!

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The ReSearching for a CURE virtual scavenger hunt is still going strong, but our investigators and teams need your help! During this fitness challenge, these science sleuths aim to take a grand total of 26 million steps and raise $26,000 to support CURE’s mission.

You can support our globetrotting investigators by giving to this campaign or by joining the challenge yourself. In honor of the one in 26 Americans who will develop epilepsy in their lifetime, can you help our team reach their goals?

You’re Invited: Unite to CURE Epilepsy

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We’re bringing the epilepsy community together on Thursday, September 24 at 7PM CT, for Unite to CURE Epilepsy, our inaugural virtual fundraising event supporting cutting-edge epilepsy research! No matter where you are in the world, join us and stand shoulder to shoulder in support of scientific progress and our shared vision of a future without epilepsy.

This special evening, broadcast on Facebook Live and YouTube Live, will feature performances from amazing musical artists, a look at the epilepsy research landscape from leading scientists, and inspirational stories of tenacity, discovery, and hope.

Keep an eye on your inbox! We’re announcing a “chief” musical performer soon…

CURE Discovery: Possible Cause of Memory Issues Associated with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

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Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is often accompanied by memory issues. In a CURE-funded study, Dr. Tristan Shuman and his team built novel, cutting-edge tools and set to work studying why memory problems arise. His team studied two areas in the brain critical for memory and learning, examining how they communicate with one another.

Dr. Shuman discovered that disrupting the electrical impulses which send information between these areas of the brain caused spatial memory impairments in mouse models of epilepsy. Understanding how the flow of information through the brain is disturbed when a person has TLE is a step toward creating therapies to target and, in the future, possibly re-establishing these disrupted firing patterns.

New from Seizing Life®, a CURE Podcast

Watch or Listen

Catch up on the latest episodes of the Seizing Life podcast where we discuss:

  • The intersection of race, disability, gender, and healthcare. Listen or Watch
  • How a traumatic brain injury suffered during a training accident changed one Marine’s life. Listen or Watch

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