Neurosciences Research Center receives $2.3 million research grant from NIH

Neuroscience Research, News and Announcements | May 15, 2024 | Christos Papadelis, Ph.D.

For the first time in its 105-year history, Cook Children's Medical Center is the recipient of and primary institution for a $2.3 million research project grant, known as an R01, by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Awarded for a study initiated and led by Christos Papadelis, Ph.D., director of the Neurosciences Research Center at Cook Children's, the grant will fund research using a combination of cutting-edge imaging techniques to better identify the location of seizure origin in children with drug-resistant epilepsy. The R01 is the most prestigious and competitive award given by the NIH and is a marker of academic success.

The goal of this grant is to improve our understanding of the functional architecture of epileptic networks in the brain of children suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy. Understanding these networks may allow for selective disruption (or modulation) of key components of these networks to halt seizures without removing the entire network. This approach could potentially improve post-operative seizure control and help prevent post-operative functional deficits.

As part of this grant, the Neurosciences Research team at Cook Children's plans to develop normative maps of the functional connections in the brain of healthy children, using non-invasive neuroimaging methods, and examine whether deviations from these maps indicate the area that is responsible for the generation of seizures in children with drug-resistant epilepsy.

To achieve the goals of this study, the research team will work closely with epileptologist M. Scott Perry, M.D., head of Neurosciences at the Jane and John Justin Institute for Mind Health, neurosurgeon Daniel Hansen, M.D., Medical Director of Neuro-Trauma, and epileptologist Cynthia Keator, M.D., Medical Director of Neurosciences at Cook Children's Medical Center.

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