Research centre offers hope to children with epilepsy

Children with epilepsy will benefit from a new research centre that aims to improve diagnosis and treatment of the condition.

The centre at the University of Edinburgh will drive medical science to improve the lives of children with epilepsy.

It will be the first dedicated medical research centre in the UK to focus exclusively on translating laboratory research findings about childhood epilepsy directly into improved clinical care.

There are more than 70,000 children with epilepsy in the UK.

Founding the centre has been made possible by a £1m pledge from the Muir Maxwell Trust, a paediatric epilepsy charity established by parents Ann and Jonny Maxwell after their son Muir was diagnosed with epilepsy in infancy.

The funding will enable key clinical and scientific posts to be established, with a view to the centre becoming self-sufficient through core funding, research grants and donations within five years.

Ann Maxwell, founder of the Muir Maxwell Trust, said: "This research centre represents an opportunity for the Muir Maxwell Trust to contribute to the practical application of leading global research to the treatment of childhood epilepsy."

The research programme at the Muir Maxwell Centre for Childhood Epilepsy Research will focus on improving diagnosis of the condition. Earlier detection of epilepsy would allow greater use of preventative measures to control seizures and limit the long-term brain damage they can cause.

The facility will benefit from state-of-the-art imaging equipment at the University of Edinburgh, which includes the UK's first ultra-fast computerised tomography (CT) scanner, one of the world's most advanced diagnostic tools.

Such equipment can help researchers determine how the brain's electrical pathways are disrupted in patients with epilepsy and help scientists better understand how this leads to seizures.

The new Centre will benefit from close interaction with the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Neuroregeneration, where world-leading experts are already working on other neurological conditions including multiple sclerosis and motor neurone disease.

Professor Sir John Savill, Head of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, said: "We are delighted to begin this partnership with the Muir Maxwell Trust, which has already made such an important difference to the lives of children living with epilepsy. Our aim is to gain greater understanding of the disease and to use that knowledge to develop better preventative measures and treatments for children with epilepsy."

Researchers within the centre will work closely with clinicians at Edinburgh's Royal Hospital for Sick Children and with other centres of excellence including the National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy, Yorkhill Children's Hospital in Glasgow and Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

For further information, please contact:
Anna Borthwick, Press and PR Office, tel 0131 651 4400; email anna.borthwick@ed.ac.uk

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