2026 Pediatric SEEG Course

Dr. Kheder is an epileptologist with extensive experience in epilepsy surgery and SEEG. His work focuses on advancing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for epilepsy. His research interests include seizure semiology, functional neuroanatomy, cognitive neuroscience, and brain mapping and connectivity. Driven by a passion for understanding the complexities of the brain, Dr. Kheder is committed to integrating cutting-edge research into clinical practice to improve patient outcomes.

Dr. Ammar Shaikhouni is a pediatric neurosurgeon and the Surgical Director of Epilepsy Surgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. He completed his neurosurgery residency at The Ohio State University, a stereotactic and functional neurosurgery fellowship at The Ohio State University, and a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. His clinical focus includes epilepsy surgery and  neuromodulation techniques to treat epilepsy and movement disorders. Dr. Shaikhouni received a PhD in neuroscience from Brown University where his research focused on brain-computer interfaces and cognitive physiology. He now integrates that expertise with his clinical practice to advance surgical care for children with neurological disorders.

Dr. Mathilde Chipaux-Raffo is a senior pediatric epileptologist and neurophysiologist at Rothschild Hospital-Foundation in Paris, with a joint appointment at the Paris Brain Institute. She leads both the Pediatric Neurophysiology Unit and Pediatric Clinical Research at Rothschild.

Trained in presurgical epilepsy evaluation and invasive EEG monitoring since 2010, she founded the EPIFOR network in 2020 to improve access to pediatric epilepsy surgery nationally and internationally. The network has supported over 400 children and facilitated more than 250 advanced surgical procedures, including SEEG, RF thermocoagulation, LITT, and neuromodulation (VNS, DBS).

She co-directs the annual French epilepsy surgery meeting hosted by Rothschild since 2013 and serves on the LFCE administrative board, the French chapter of the ILAE.

Her research focuses on focal cortical dysplasia genetics, sEEG thermolesions, surgical outcomes, pediatric neurophysiology, and innovations in epilepsy surgery. She has collaborated with the Paris Brain Institute since her PhD in 2009 and has led pediatric clinical research at Rothschild since 2017.

Dr Sarah Ferrand-Sorbets is a Pediatric Neurosurgeon and Head of Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery in the Rothschild Foundation Hospital, Paris, France (CCMR Epilepsies Rares, member of the EPICARE European Reference Network and Centre de Référence et de compétence des épilepsies rares CRéER).

Graduated in 2008, she then received pediatric epilepsy surgery training with Olivier DELALANDE & Georg DORFMULLER at the Rothschild Foundation Hospital, including a residency at the Great Osmond Street Hosiptal, London, in 2018. She is member of the ILAE Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery -Task Force of the Surgery Commission (2021-2025) and Faculty member of the International Epilepsy Surgery Society (IESS).

Her clinical and research interests include all the fields of the pediatric epilepsy surgery : presurgical evaluation with invasive : grids and sEEG, robotic frameless stereotactic procedures, radiofrequency thermocoagulation, resective-disconnective procedures, MRI-guided procedures, LITT, and neuromodulation : VNS and DBS. She leads the development of MRI guided neurosurgery and its various applications : Laser thermoablation, gene therapy and DBS.

Dr. Mathilde Chipaux-Raffo is a senior paediatric epileptologist and neurophysiologist. Currently, she is appointed as a paediatrician in Rothschild Hospital-Foundation in Paris with a crossed appointment of Clinical Neurological Sciences in Brain Institut, Paris. Rothschild Hospital-Foundation is the French leader in paediatric epilepsy surgery since 1997. It is also one of the most recognized team in Europe.

Dr. Chipaux-Raffo is currently Head of Paediatric Neurolophysiology Unit and Head of the Paediatric clinical research at Rothschild Hospital-Foundation. She was trained for presurgical epilepsy evaluation and particularly invasive EEG monitoring since 2010.

Dr Chipaux-Raffo created an epileptic clinical network that aims to facilitate epilepsy surgery access for children across the country and across foreign countries (EPIFOR network). Since its creation in 2020, this network follows 400 children and has facilitated more than 250 epilepsy advanced surgical treatments, such as SEEG, RF guided thermocoagulations, neurosurgery including LITT and neuromodulation (VNS and DBS).

Dr. Chipaux-Raffo is also one of the program directors of the French epilepsy surgery annual meeting hosted by Rothschild Hospital-Foundation since 2013.

Nationally, Dr. Chipaux-Raffo is a member of the LFCE administrative board, the French chapter of ILAE.

Dr. Chipaux-Raffo’s research interests include: Genetics of focal cortical dysplasia, thermolesions during sEEG monitoring, epileptic and neurodevelopmental outcome after epilepsy surgery, paediatric neurophysiology and innovation in epilepsy surgery in children.  She is involved in translational research through long-lasting collaborations with Paris Brain Institute since her PhD started in 2009. She is the Head of the paediatric clinical research in Rothschild Hospital-Foundation since 2017.

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Dr Sarah Ferrand-Sorbets is a Pediatric Neurosurgeon and Head of Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery in the Rothschild Foundation Hospital, Paris, France (CCMR Epilepsies Rares, member of the EPICARE European Reference Network and Centre de Référence et de compétence des épilepsies rares CRéER).

Graduated in 2008, she then received pediatric epilepsy surgery training with Olivier DELALANDE & Georg DORFMULLER at the Rothschild Foundation Hospital, including a residency at the Great Osmond Street Hosiptal, London, in 2018. She is member of the ILAE Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery -Task Force of the Surgery Commission (2021-2025) and Faculty member of the International Epilepsy Surgery Society (IESS).

Her clinical and research interests include all the fields of the pediatric epilepsy surgery : presurgical evaluation with invasive : grids and sEEG, robotic frameless stereotactic procedures, radiofrequency thermocoagulation, resective-disconnective procedures, MRI-guided procedures, LITT, and neuromodulation : VNS and DBS. She leads the development of MRI guided neurosurgery and its various applications : Laser thermoablation, gene therapy and DBS.

Dr. Kheder is an epileptologist with extensive experience in epilepsy surgery and SEEG. His work focuses on advancing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for epilepsy. His research interests include seizure semiology, functional neuroanatomy, cognitive neuroscience, and brain mapping and connectivity. Driven by a passion for understanding the complexities of the brain, Dr. Kheder is committed to integrating cutting-edge research into clinical practice to improve patient outcomes.

Dr. Ammar Shaikhouni is a pediatric neurosurgeon and the Surgical Director of Epilepsy Surgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. He completed his neurosurgery residency at The Ohio State University, a stereotactic and functional neurosurgery fellowship at The Ohio State University, and a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. His clinical focus includes epilepsy surgery and  neuromodulation techniques to treat epilepsy and movement disorders. Dr. Shaikhouni received a PhD in neuroscience from Brown University where his research focused on brain-computer interfaces and cognitive physiology. He now integrates that expertise with his clinical practice to advance surgical care for children with neurological disorders.

Dr. Andrea Andrade is a paediatric neurologist with formal training in pediatric epilepsy and stroke. Dr. Andrade joined the Department of Paediatrics and Clinical Neurological Sciences in 2015, where she is appointed as an Assistant Professor at Western University, currently she is the medical director of the pediatric epilepsy program in Southwestern Ontario and co-director of the pediatric epilepsy fellowship training at Schulich.

Dr. Andrade obtained her medical degree in Mexico City at the Anahuac University Medical School. Subsequently, she completed her General Paediatrics and Pediatric Neurology training in Mexico City where she is certified by the Mexican board in both Paediatrics and Neurology.

She moved to Dallas, Texas in 2005, where she completed a 3-year fellowship in Child Neurology and a 2-year Clinical Neurophysiology/Paediatric epilepsy fellowship with a focus on paediatric vEEG interpretation and paediatric epilepsy surgery evaluations at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Andrade was elected chief resident by the paediatric neurology division, where she developed her interest in medical education. She also was the winner of the 2009 Neurology Resident teaching award.

In 2011, Dr. Andrade moved to Toronto, Canada, where she completed a 3-year clinical fellowship in Paediatric Stroke. During this time, she also acted as a clinical fellow in the paediatric epilepsy program at The Hospital for Sick Children/University of Toronto. Dr. Andrade was the winner of the trainee CanMeds award in 2013 and the trainee Teaching award in 2014.

Since her appointment, Dr. Andrade has expanded significantly the pediatric epilepsy program with the creation of a comprehensive epilepsy clinic and the pediatric epilepsy surgical program providing state-of-the-art care to children with complex epilepsies. Dr. Andrade is deeply involved in the provincial taskforce for epilepsy; collaborating with other leaders in the field in the expansion of the epilepsy monitoring units in Ontario and project ECHO “Epilepsy Across the life span”. Dr. Andrade is also involved in the development of an acute stroke pathway for children in Southwestern Ontario.

Dr. Andrade’s main clinical and research interests are medically refractory epilepsies in children, paediatric epilepsy surgery, paediatric video EEG, paediatric stroke and the effect of acute seizures in paediatric stroke. Amongst Dr. Andrade’s research achievements highlights the creation of a registry for children with epilepsy in Southwestern Ontario. Dr. Andrade has a number of publications in both fields, paediatric epilepsy and pediatric stroke.

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Dr Erasmo A. Passaro, MD is the Founding Director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Bayfront Health, St Petersburg, FL and the Florida Center for Epilepsy in St Petersburg, Florida since its inception in June 2002. It is only one of five level IV adult epilepsy center in Florida, the highest level designated by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers, and the recently named Director of Epilepsy Surgery Program at Johns Hopkins, All Children’s Hospital in St Petersburg, FL.

He received his undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Chicago with honors, and graduated from the Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey. He then served a one-year medical internship at UCLA-SFVP. He completed a year of training in Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.

He completed his Neurology residency at UCLA followed by a two year epilepsy/clinical neurophysiology fellowship at UCLA with Jerome Engel MD, PhD. He then established the Tampa General Hospital Epilepsy Surgery Program in 1995 where the first epilepsy surgery and first awake brain mapping in the Tampa Bay area were performed under his direction. In 1998, he assumed the position of Assistant Professor of Neurology, Director of the Adult Epilepsy Laboratory and the Functional Brain Mapping program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, a position he held until 2002. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN), the ABPN with added qualification in Clinical Neurophysiology, Epilepsy and Sleep Medicine; the American Board of Clinical Neurophysiology; the American Board of Sleep Medicine; and diplomate in the subspecialty of Neuroimaging of the United Council of Neurologic Specialties. He has been recognized by 15 consecutive years by Castle Connolly’s “Best Doctors in America” for 2007- 2020 and America’s “Top Doctors”.

Mr Martin Tisdall is a consultant paediatric neurosurgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and an honorary senior lecturer at the Institute of Child Health, UCL. He has worked at GOSH since 2013 and he is the lead surgeon for the Children’s Epilepsy Surgery Service and the surgical lead for traumatic brain injury. He specialises in paediatric epilepsy surgery and traumatic brain injuries. His principal research interests include clinical outcomes from epilepsy surgery, imaging techniques for presurgical assessment of children with epilepsy, near-infrared spectroscopy and multimodality monitoring of cerebral haemodynamics and metabolism.

Dr Christin Eltze is a Consultant Paediatric Neurologist and Epileptologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital and specialty lead for Epilepsy and the Children's Epilepsy Surgery Service.

‍Education & training: Paediatric neurology and epileptology training with advanced expertise in presurgical evaluation and ketogenic diet programmes.

‍Clinical interests: Early-onset epilepsies, epilepsy surgery evaluation and outcomes, ketogenic diet therapies and complex comorbid neurodevelopmental conditions.

‍Research, teaching & leadership: Research on infancy-onset epilepsy epidemiology and postsurgical outcomes, and leadership roles across CESS and specialty training.

‍Service & systems: Delivers integrated pre- and post-surgical epilepsy pathways with neurophysiology, imaging and neuropsychology, with robust audit and family-centred education.

‍Selected publications & contributions: Peer-reviewed outputs on epilepsy surgery outcomes and translational dietary therapies.