Advisory Committee
Patrick Chauvel, MD
Professor
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Aix-Marseille University
Guy McKhann, MD
Professor
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Jorge Gonzalez-Martinez, MD, PhD
Professor
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Aileen McGonigal, MD, PhD, MRCP
Professor
Director of Epilepsy Unit, Mater Hospital and University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Louis Maillard, MD
PROFESSOR
Lorraine University and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Birgit Frauscher, MD
PROFESSOR
Professor of Neurology and Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Duke Comprehensive Epilepsy Center
Anna Miserocchi, MD
Consultant Neurosurgeon
National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, UK
Patrick Chauvel, MD
Professor
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Aix-Marseille University
After achieving his medical and scientific studies in Neurology and in Neuroscience, Dr. Chauvel became an INSERM researcher. At that time, he began his work in experimental and later clinical research into the mechanisms of the epilepsies. Under the mentorship of Talairach and Bancaud at Hospital Sainte-Anne/University René Descartes, Paris, he developed SEEG as a presurgical method in epilepsy surgery. His research work has been devoted to the pathophysiology of the epileptogenic zone, emergence of seizure clinical semiology, and cerebral cortex physiology.
He has promoted the concept of epileptogenic network over the classical epileptic focus idea and opened new vistas in markers of the epileptogenic zone and semiology of focal epilepsies. Taking over from Jean Bancaud, Dr. Chauvel served as the Director of the SEEG Unit in Hospital Sainte-Anne in Paris (1986-1990), then Professor and Chairman of Neurology in Rennes (1990-1997) where he configured a new type of Epilepsy Unit including research, then Professor and Chairman of Clinical Neurophysiology and Director of the INSERM Institute of Systems Neuroscience in Marseille (1997-2014).
In 2014, he relocated to the Epilepsy Center of the Cleveland Clinic in order to promote the development of presurgical investigation using SEEG in North America. He was appointed as Professor of Neurology at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. In Brisbane, as Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland, he guided developing SEEG-based epilepsy surgery and related research program.
He is currently Professor of Neurology at the University of Pittsburgh, and Professor Emeritus of Physiology at Aix-Marseille University.
He is the author of more than 250 original articles in international journals and is a member of several international Scientific and Medical Societies. He has been elected as a Member of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Belgium.
Guy McKhann, MD
Professor
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Dr. McKhann is the Director of Epilepsy Surgery, Brain Mapping for Tumors and Epilepsy, and Adult Hydrocephalus at Columbia University Irving Medical Center/New York Presbyterian Hospital. He has over 20 years of experience at CUIMC/NYP, combining clinical skill and compassionate care to maximize patient outcomes. He is a member of both the Columbia P&S Virginia Apgar Academy of Medical Educators and the P&S Academy of Clinical Excellence. His areas of particular technical expertise include awake brain mapping; epilepsy surgery; low grade glioma surgery; minimally invasive, computer guided microneurosurgery; and stereotactic laser ablation for tumors and epilepsy.
Dr. McKhann also works as a translational neuroscientist, directing the Epilepsy Neurophysiology Laboratory; helping lead the multi-departmental study of Cognitive Neurophysiology together with Catherine Schevon MD, Ph.D. and Charles Schroeder, PhD; and collaborating extensively with the Gabriele Bartoli Brain Tumor Research Laboratory. His basic and clinical research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Klingenstein Foundation, the Charles A. Dana Foundation, the New York Academy of Medicine, Parents Against Childhood Epilepsy, the Irving Center for Clinical Research, CURE, and the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance.
Dr. McKhann graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude from Duke University, with Research Honors for his investigations into brain tumor immunobiology. He attended Yale School of Medicine where he was AOA, Cum Laude, a Farr Scholar, and one of five recipients of the medical school’s highest thesis award. Dr. McKhann trained in Neurological Surgery at the University of Washington, as well as Atkinson Morley’s Hospital in Wimbledon, England.
Jorge Gonzalez-Martinez, MD, PhD
Professor
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Dr. Gonzalez-Martinez is a board-certified neurosurgeon subspecialized in epilepsy and functional neurosurgery. He is the director of the epilepsy and movement disorders surgery, Co-Director of the Epilepsy Center and Director of the Cortical Systems Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Dr. Gonzalez is a world-renowned surgeon who have published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters related to epilepsy surgery and methods of brain mapping for patients with medically intractable epilepsy and movement disorders. He has been serving the American Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery in the capacity of member of the executive committee for the last 6 years, developing high relevant projects and topics related to the field of functional neurosurgery and epilepsy.
Dr. Gonzalez is a medical pioneer in novel surgical methods for treating medically refractory seizures such as stereo-electroencephalography, SEEG guided laser ablative procedures, neuromodulatory interventions and robotic guided surgeries, bringing for the first time innovative surgical interventions to the United States and other countries. His particular field of interest and academic drive is related to neuro-electrophysiology, intracranial signal processing and behavioral neuroscience studies.
Combined, the clinical and basic science efforts have been guiding his academic and clinical pathway for safer and more efficient methods for treating patients with severe seizures and abnormal movement disorders, promoting the improvement of symptoms, in combination with better functional and quality of life outcomes.
Prof. Aileen McGonigal, MD, PhD, MRCP
Neurologist
Director of Epilepsy Unit, Mater Hospital and University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Neurologist with extensive specialist experience in epileptology and EEG, including stereo-EEG. Following UK neurology training, Prof McGonigal spent around 20 years in France where she studied and practised stereo-EEG methodology, contributing to its evolution through clinical research. Her research interests include seizure semiology and its neural correlates, and she has written and lectured widely on these. She took up her current post in Australia in 2022, and continues to develop use of stereo-EEG with an associated clinical research programme.
Louis Maillard
.
Louis Maillard has been leading the Patrick Chauvel Epileptology Unit at the Regional University
Hospital of Nancy since 2005. This unit is recognized as a tertiary French and European Reference
Center for rare and drug-refractory epilepsies (ERN EPICARE). Louis is a Professor of
Neurology at Lorraine University and a member of the Clinical and Neuroscience Research Team at
Lorraine University, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7365. Additionally, he
chairs the Scientific Board of the French Clinical Neurophysiology Society and is a member of the ILAE
Task Force on Diagnostic Methods/EEG.
Louis Maillard completed a clinical fellowship at the Marseille Epileptology Unit from 2003 to 2005
and earned a PhD in neuroscience at the University of Marseille under the supervision of Professors
Patrick and Catherine Chauvel. His research interests and publications focus on drug-resistant
epilepsies, with several key objectives:
1. Improving the delineation of the epileptogenic zone using both Stereo-
Electroencephalography (SEEG) and Electrical Source Imaging.
2. Enhancing post-surgical cognitive outcomes, particularly in language and visual recognition,
through electrical cortical stimulation, intra-cerebral evoked potentials, and cortico-cortical
evoked potentials.
Louis Maillard has served as a tutor and faculty member at numerous international workshops and
congresses on SEEG and drug-resistant epilepsies. He chaired the Special Interest Group of the
American Epilepsy Society (AES) dedicated to SEEG in December 2024.
Birgit Frauscher
Dr
Dr. Birgit Frauscher is a clinician scientist whose career is dedicated to improve diagnosis
and prognosis of people with epilepsy by developing new methods based on advanced
electroencephalography techniques to better localize the epileptic focus in order to improve
epilepsy treatment outcomes and ultimately achieve the best possible quality of life. She is
currently holding the position of Director of the Duke Comprehensive Epilepsy Center and
holds a secondary appointment with the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Duke
Pratt School of Engineering.
Her academic journey started at the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria, where she
accomplished her medical training, residency in neurology, and subspecialty training in
electroencephalography, epilepsy and sleep medicine. Early in her career during Medical
School she became fascinated by the technique of electroencephalography and how it allows
to draw important conclusions on brain function. After completion of her clinical training in
2008, she underwent subsequent research training resulting in the successful completion of
her habilitation degree in 2011. To specialize on intracranial EEG and signal analysis, she
spent a visiting professorship at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill
University in Canada between 2013 – 2015. Subsequently, she served at the Montreal
Neurological Institute and Hospital as an Attending Epileptologist and later as Group Leader
of Epilepsy and Professor of Neurology.
Her research interests include i) the development of novel seizure-independent EEG markers
for the epileptogenic zone in order to achieve a more accurate diagnosis of epilepsy, ii) the
investigation of the important interactions between sleep and epilepsy, and iii) the use of the
unique possibility of invasive intracranial EEG for studying brain physiology during
wakefulness and sleep in order to better delineate normal from abnormal intracranial EEG
activity.
Dr. Frauscher’s publication record holds over 200 peer-reviewed papers dedicated to epilepsy
and sleep with a H-index of 69. Her scholarly endeavors have earned her several prestigious
awards, including Clinician-Scientist awards of the FRSQ (2018-2023), the Michael Prize of
the International League against Epilepsy (2019) and the Ernst Niedermeyer Prize from the
Austrian Epilepsy Society (2015).
Anna Miserocchi
Dr
Dr. Anna Miserocchi is a consultant neurosurgeon at the National Hospital for Neurology and
Neurosurgery in London, UK, specializing in epilepsy and functional tumour surgery. His
research focuses on using novel multimodality imaging to improve the safety and precision
of neurosurgical procedures, as well as to enhance diagnostic accuracy.
Currently, he is developing a neurosurgical planning platform specifically for epilepsy surgery
called EpiNav. This platform integrates various imaging modalities, such as fMRI, DTI, PET,
SPECT, MEG, EEG/fMRI, and 3D angiography, allowing for safer planning and navigation
during epilepsy surgeries. His aim is to provide surgeons with the tools to better visualize
and protect critical areas of the brain during these procedures.
A key focus of his work has also been integrating functional imaging into the surgical
microscope within the interventional MRI. This is part of his efforts to reduce neurological
deficits in patients during resective surgery.
He has also completed the first randomized controlled surgical trial to compare frameless
stealth-guided implantation against robotic implantation of intracranial electrodes for
stereoEEG. This trial aimed to determine the safety and accuracy of electrode placement
with different surgical techniques.
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