Fourth International Seizure Prediction Workshop

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Epilepsy, one of the most prevalent neurological disorders, affects approximately 1% (>60 million) of the world's population. In an estimated 20 million of the patients, seizures are not controlled even by multiple anti-seizure drugs. In-depth analyses of the causes of disability, injury and death in patients with pharmaco-resistant epilepsy finds seizure unpredictability the most crippling, negatively impacting safety, life span and quality of life. In recognition of the high clinical/humanitarian and socio-economic value of accurate seizure prediction and of the need for knowledge sharing to succeed in this task, an international interdisciplinary group composed of epileptologists, engineers, physicists, mathematicians, neurosurgeons and neuroscientists (the International Seizure Prediction Group) has created and greatly benefited from a forum where strategies and methods for predicting seizures are assessed and refined as needed and research directions are laid out. Seizure warning and control have been added to the mission of this group, in recognition of their inherent value. In order to fulfill these worthy and challenging objectives, this group meets every 18 months, alternating between the USA and Europe to assess and disseminate novel contributions and facilitate and increase participation in this unprecedented interdisciplinary project, to increase the probability of success. This application seeks support for the Fourth International Seizure Prediction Workshop (ISWP4) to be held in Kansas City in June 2009. More specifically, it asks for support to cover costs of participation of Session Chairs, Speakers and Young Investigators including women and racial and ethnic minorities, working on seizure dynamics, automated seizure prediction and control. This workshop's format will be highly interactive, promoting discussion of relevant issues and will introduce five new sessions: 1. Nocturnal Frontal lobe epilepsy: A rare disease with great potential for predictability; 2. Seizure prediction in children: The overlooked challenge; 3. Didactic ("Epilepsy for Non-epileptologists" and "Mathematics for Epileptologists") to facilitate and promote meaningful interactions between this technically diverse group of investigators; 4. Academia-Industry to initiate a much needed interaction that will foster translational research with clinical applicability for the benefit of patients; 5. Patients-Researchers-Industry session, to provide a forum for patients to voice ideas and expectations. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The Fourth International Workshop on Seizure Prediction (ISPW4) will be convened in Kansas City, Kansas, June 4-7, 2009. This scientific meeting will be attended by international experts working in the fields of seizure prediction, seizure dynamics and seizure control. Scientists with international recognition in prediction of complex phenomena such as earthquakes and the financial markets will be invited to share their knowledge, experience and challenges. The fields of seizure prediction, seizure dynamics and seizure control offer the promise of improving quality of life and decreasing morbidity and mortality in a cost-effective manner. This application seeks support for the participation in this workshop of: a) Three keynote speakers, one each from the fields of seismology, meteorology and finance with extensive experience in prediction of events in their respective fields; b) Two keynote speakers with expertise in Nocturnal Frontal Lobe Epilepsy, a rare disease with onset in childhood; c) Two keynote speakers, one with expertise in Ontogeny of Human EEG and the other on the challenges for quantitative analysis of EEG in the developing brain; and d) Forty-three invited investigators, speakers/session-chairs, approximately 60% comprising senior level academic researchers and the remaining 40% selected to target junior investigators, women and minorities in order to ensure appropriate representation.