Anne T Berg

The focus of my research for over 30 years has been “natural” of pediatric seizures and epilepsy with a specific emphasis on seizure outcomes, developmental and cognitive consequences the impact on quality of life, impact on families, and the implications of all of these considerations for care and care-models. In 2007, I played a key role in focusing NINDS research priorities on the cognitive, developmental, and behavioral co-morbidities of epilepsy and organized sessions at the American Epilepsy Society meeting to investigate these areas and identify research opportunities for improving patients’ outcomes. In 2013, I Co-Chaired the NINDS-sponsored Curing Epilepsies conference and also organized and led the workshop, “Priorities in Pediatric Epilepsy Research: Improving Children’s Futures Today.” I was one of the initial founders of the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Consortium (PERC) which has grown to 40 centers in the US. Most recently, I have initiated a web-based platform to facilitate rapid, collection of high-value information about a large range of morbidities that affect children with early life developmental epilepsies. Using evidence to transform attitudes and approaches toward early life epilepsy from one of futility to one in which precision diagnosis can lead to precision therapies and ultimately to improved outcome is the driving force behind my research endeavors.