Early Career Awardees

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Congratulations to the 2021 Early Career Fellowship Awardees!

AES is proud to support 26 early career scientists in 2021 with $1.06 million in research grants and fellowships.

With support from philanthropic donations, the Lennox and Lombroso Fund for Research and Training, and the Susan S. Spencer Fund for Clinical Research and Education, AES supports trainees and newly independent investigators working across the full spectrum of epilepsy research, from basic science to translational and clinical research.

Junior Investigator Awards

Isamu Aiba, PhD

Spreading depolarizations contribute to epilepsy comorbidities

Baylor College of Medicine

Kimberly Aldinger, PhD

Functional characterization of MAST4 variants

Seattle Children's Hospital

Allyson Alexander, MD, PhD

MTOR pathway dysfunction and hub cells in focal cortical dysplasia

University of Colorado, Denver

Roni Dhaher, PhD

Modulating the relief from anhedonia and seizures in temporal lobe epilepsy

Yale University

Laura Ewell, PhD

Lateralization in mouse temporal lobe epilepsy

University of California, Irvine

Churl-Su Kwon, MD, MPH

AES/EF Junior Investigator Award, Funded in full by the Epilepsy Foundation

Disparities in epilepsy surgery quality of care and access to care

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Research Training Fellowship for Clinicians

Brad Kamitaki, MD

Addressing barriers to comprehensive epilepsy care: A mixed-methods study

Rutgers University

Mentors: Joel Cantor, ScD; Haiqun Lin, MD, PhD; and Hyunmi Choi, MD

Joshua LaRocque, MD, PhD

Exploring the neural basis of naming impairment in patients with epilepsy

University of Wisconsin-Madison, and New York University

Mentors: Anli Liu, MD; Adeen Flinker, PhD; Aaron Struck, MD; and Orrin Devinsky, MD

Sheela Toprani, MD, PhD

Network-targeted therapy for epilepsy and neuropsychological comorbidities

University of California, Davis

Mentors: Kimford Meador, MD; Amy Brooks-Kayal, MD; and Karen Anne Moxon, PhD

Amanda Sandoval Karamian, MD

PERF/AES Research Training Fellowship for Clinicians, funded at 50% by PERF

White matter microstructural abnormalities in neonatal genetic epilepsy

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Mentors: Nicholas Abend, MD and Hao Huang, PhD

Julie Ziobro, MD, PhD

PCDH19 Alliance/AES Research Training Fellowship for Clinicians, funded at 40% by PCDH19 Alliance

Mechanisms of PCDH19 clustering epilepsy

University of Michigan

Mentor: Jack Parent, MD

Postdoctoral Research Fellowships

Michelle Kloc, PhD

Cholinergic modulation of CA1 signaling in febrile status epilepticus

University of Vermont

Mentor: Gregory Holmes, MD

Frederic Schaper, MD, PhD

Network mapping of focal epilepsy using lesions and deep brain stimulation

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Mentors: Michael Fox, MD, PhD and Ellen Bubrick, MD

Alena Stasenko, PhD

Improving pre-surgical language assessment in bilinguals with epilepsy

University of California, San Diego

Mentor: Carrie McDonald, PhD

Yusuke Takezawa, MD, PhD

Calcium overload and cell swelling during hypoxia in the neonatal brain

University of Iowa

Mentor: Joseph Glykys, MD, PhD

William Tobin, PhD

Determinants of cortical interneuron dysfunction in KCNT1-related epilepsy

University of Vermont

Mentor: Matthew Weston, PhD

Predoctoral Research Fellowships

Michael Granovetter, MS, AB

Neuroplasticity of the visual system following temporal cortical resection

Carnegie Mellon University

Mentor: Marlene Behrmann, PhD and Christina Patterson, MD

Darian Hadjiabadi, MS

Cellular pathways underlying pathological high-frequency oscillations

Stanford University

Mentor: Ivan Soltesz, PhD

Segewkal Hawaze Heruye, MS, BPharm

Targeting ROS-dependent synaptic dysfunction and cognitive deficits in TLE

Creighton University

Mentors: Timothy Simeone, PhD and Kristina Simeone PhD

Rachael Ryner, BS

Aberrant wnt signaling disrupts inhibitory networks in mouse model of IS

Tufts University

Mentor: Chris Dulla, PhD

James Sun, BA

Intraoperative recording in epilepsy with a high-density ECoG array

New York University School of Medicine

Mentors: Bijan Pesaran, PhD and Daniel Friedman, MD

Wanqi Wang, MA

Axon function in the pathogenesis of ARHGEF9 epileptic encephalopathy

Columbia University

Mentor: Wayne Frankel, PhD

Timothy Abreo, BS

AES/Wishes for Elliott Predoctoral Research Fellowship, co-funded at 15% by WFE

Characterization of gene modifiers in a mouse model of epilepsy

Baylor College of Medicine

Mentor: Edward Cooper, MD, PhD

Epilepsy Study Consortium Mini-grants

Alexander Arnold, MD

Using online seizure diaries to compare antiepileptic drug efficacy

University of Washington

Mentor: Nick Poolos, MD, PhD

Stephanie Reeder, MD

Use of Lacosamide (LCS) in elderly patients with epilepsy

University of Minnesota

Mentors: Sima Patel, MD; Angela Birnbaum, PhD; and Ilo Leppik, MD

Susan S. Spencer, MD, Clinical Research Training Fellowship in Epilepsy

Samuel Terman, MD

Seizure risk prediction after antiseizure medication discontinuation in patients with well-controlled epilepsy: Randomized trial reanalysis and pooling

University of Michigan

Mentors: James Burke, MD, MS and Jack Parent, MD

The following awards were given to the 26 bright early career scientists above:

Junior Investigator Awards: $50,000 for newly independent investigators to support direct costs of research plus one year of AES membership
Research Training Fellowship for Clinicians: Mentored support for clinical fellows or junior clinical faculty with up to $50,000 for stipend and travel support plus one year of AES membership
Postdoctoral Research Fellowships: Mentored research fellowships with up to $50,000 for stipend and travel support plus one year of AES membership
Predoctoral Research Fellowships: Mentored research fellowships with up to $30,000 for stipend and travel support plus one year of AES membership
Epilepsy Study Consortium Mini-grants: Funded by ESC and administered by AES
Susan S. Spencer, MD, Clinical Research Training Fellowship in Epilepsy, 2021-2023: Funded by AES, Epilepsy Foundation, and American Brain Foundation in collaboration with the American Academy of Neurology

The American Epilepsy Society would like to thank Jenny Hsieh, PhD and William Stacey, MD, PhD, co-chairs of the AES Early Career Grants Committee, and the long list of volunteer reviewers for their continued efforts in supporting the next generation of epilepsy researchers.

AES would also like to thank our funding partners for joining us to support the future of epilepsy research:

The Epilepsy Foundation for one award in full
The Pediatric Epilepsy Research Foundation for co-funding of one award
The PCDH19 Alliance for co-funding one award
Epilepsy Study Consortium for full funding of two ESC mini-grants
Wishes for Elliott for co-funding of one award
The American Brain Foundation, Epilepsy Foundation, and American Academy of Neurology for their decade-long partnership with the American Epilepsy Society for support of the Susan Spencer Clinical Research Training Scholarship