IEL / ILAE Epilepsy Expert Day 2025, September 19th
The Annual meeting of the Irish Epilepsy League (IEL), the Irish chapter of the International League against Epilepsy (ILAE), will take place on Friday September 19th at the Gibson Hotel, Dublin.
Note: this meeting is aimed at healthcare professionals of all types and researchers.
For any members of the public who are interested in the area of epilepsy, we would encourage you to look into the Epilepsy Ireland National Conference on September 20th.
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Prof Jacqueline French Prof. Jacqueline French, Professor of Neurology at New York University School of Medicine will deliver a guest lecture entitled “How do we select new drugs for people with epilepsy?”
Prof. French’s extensive body of research focusses on clinical trials for new epilepsy therapies and devices. She has served as principal investigator on numerous trials for new epilepsy medications, and founded the Epilepsy Study Consortium, an academic group dedicated to performing early-phase clinical trials and developing new methodologies for epilepsy research.
Prof. Katja Kobow Prof. Katja Kobow, Professor of molecular neuropathology, University Hospital, Erlangen, Germany, will deliver a guest lecture entitled “Epigenetics in epilepsy – bridging basic science with clinical application”.
Dr. Kobow studied biochemistry at the University of Leipzig. She received her PhD in neuroscience and genetics in 2009 under the supervision of Prof. Ingmar Blümcke and has since built her own research group, studying the molecular pathomechanisms underlying experimental and human focal epilepsies. The focus in recent years has been on epigenomic changes in epileptic brain tissue as well as the identification of molecular diagnostic biomarkers for epilepsy and associated pathologies, both in the brain and peripheral tissues. Ongoing mechanistic studies investigate the translation of hypersynchronous neuronal activity (i.e., seizures) into aberrant epigenetic signatures, as well as the potential to target these mechanisms. Additionally, they examine the contribution of epigenetics to phenotypic variability in epilepsy and its role in transgenerational inheritance. Dr. Kobow actively participates in several ILAE (International League Against Epilepsy) commissions and task forces, chairs the ILAE Mentoring program, and is one of the founders and a former board member of the ILAE’s Young Epilepsy Section (YES). In 2021, she was awarded the prestigious Michael Prize for her pioneering work in epigenetics related to epilepsy
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Programme 08.30 Registration 09.00 Opening remarks and ILAE update Dr. Peter Widdess-Walsh, President, ILAE 09.10 Update from Epilepsy Ireland Peter Murphy, CEO Epilepsy Ireland 09.15 Epilepsy nursing update Ms. Yvonne Owen, Epilepsy ANP Session I
Chair: Prof. Colin Doherty, St. James' Hospital09.20 John Kirker Lecture
How do we select new drugs for people with epilepsy?Prof. Jacqueline French
NYU School of Medicine10.20 Break – tea/coffee and pastries 10.45 Circadian rhythms in epilepsy: Why it matters Dr. Cristina Reschke, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. 11.15 Epilepsy Surgery Case Presentation Prof. Daniel Costello, Cork University Hospital 11.45 John Lynch lecture: Epilepsy in ancient leaders. Dr. David Woods, Head of Classics, University College Cork 12.30 Lunch Session II
Chair: Prof. David Henshall, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland13.30 Epigenetics in epilepsy – bridging basic science with clinical applications Prof. Katja Kobow
Professor of molecular neuropathology, University Hospital, ErlangenSession III
Chair: Dr. Ged O'Connor, Cork University Hospital14.30 Debate
"That all men of reproductive potential on epilim should discontinue epilim due to teratogenic risks"For: Dr. Yerko Ivanovic-Barbeito
Tallaght University Hospital
Against: Dr. Michael Kinney
Royal Victoria Hospital, BelfastSession IV
Chair: Dr. Cristina Reschke, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland15.30 Prizewinner platform presentations
Clinical research prize
Basic science prize
Student essary prize16.00 Closing Remarks Dr Peter Widdess-Walsh
