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CURE Epilepsy’s Newest Grantees

CURE Epilepsy is honored to announce our newest CURE Epilepsy grantees. We award grants for cutting-edge, novel research that is working to bring us closer to better treatments, improved outcomes for those living with epilepsy, and ultimately cures so that we can live in a world that is free from seizures.

Catalyst Award Grantees - $250,000 over two years

This award supports nimble development of data necessary to advance ideas toward larger commercialization funding opportunities.

Ellen Bubrick, MD

Brigham and Women’s Hospital 

In pilot studies, Dr. Bubrick’s team tested focused ultrasound in a small number of people with epilepsy and showed that it is safe. In this project, they will gather data on the best dose to use in larger studies to see how well the therapy works in suppressing seizures.

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Janet van Eersel, PhD

Macquarie University

'Excitotoxicity' is a phenomenon closely linked to epilepsy. It happens when nerve cells in the brain get too much stimulation, which can lead to cell damage and death. Dr. Van Eersel’s team discovered that a protein called Tau enables excitotoxicity in the brain.

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Rare Epilepsy Partnership Award Grantees - $100,000 over one year

This award supports the development of necessary research tools, techniques, model systems, and data collection platforms to stimulate and accelerate research on rare epilepsies. Each award is co-funded by CURE Epilepsy and one or more rare epilepsy advocacy groups.

Naomi Dirckx, PhD

Washington University in St. Louis

Dr. Dirckx will focus on understanding whether mutations in a gene called SLC13A5 affect how nutrients move between neuronal and supportive brain cells, leading to defective energy production, and causing seizures.

Learn More About this Grant Co-Funded by TESS Research Foundation

Hing Lee, PhD

Boston Children’s Hospital

In this study, Dr. Lee will test whether gene replacement therapy, a treatment aimed at delivering normal copies of the SLC6A1 gene to the brain, can improve symptoms in mice lacking the SLC6A1 gene.

Learn More About this Grant Co-Funded by SLC6A1 Connect

Heather Mefford, MD, PhD

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

People with CHD2-related neurodevelopmental disorders share certain patterns in their DNA, called episignatures, that can be used to diagnose or classify genetic variations. In this study, Dr. Mefford and her team aim to study these episignatures in different cell types to learn how these patterns relate to the problems seen in CHD2-related disorders.

Learn More About this Grant Co-Funded by Coalition to Cure CHD2

Vincent Navarro, MD, PhD

Sorbonne University, Paris Brain Institute

This study aims to explore whether there are clinical signs, brain imaging markers, or certain molecules in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid that can help us predict who might develop epilepsy after new-onset refractory status epilepticus (NORSE).

Learn More About this Grant Co-Funded by NORSE Institute

Michael Talkowski, PhD

Massachusetts General Hospital

Dr. Talkowski and his team propose to create a complete map of structural genetic changes, DNA methylation patterns (changes to DNA that can determine whether genes are turned on or off), and gene expression changes in Ring14 syndrome.

Learn More About this Grant Co-Funded by Ring14 USA

Our mission is to find a cure for epilepsy, by promoting and funding patient-focused research. CURE Epilepsy is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our tax identification number is 36-4253176.