Visit the Epilepsy Patient page
The Epilepsy Division is home to a team of experts dedicated to individualized patient care, groundbreaking epilepsy research, and training the next generation of epileptologists. The occurrence of seizures greatly diminishes quality of life for patients, which is why the goal of the Epilepsy Division is to develop curative treatment plans to completely eliminate seizures.
The Vanderbilt Epilepsy Center is the largest and only adult level 4 epilepsy center in Tennessee. It serves patients from a multistate region with cutting-edge technologies and surgical treatment options. It incorporates a very busy eight-bed adult Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU), ICU EEG, IOM, and Epilepsy surgery services, as well as an outpatient clinic. The EMU performs long-term EEG-video monitoring, allowing neurologists to record seizures to characterize, classify, and localize them in order to determine the best treatment options.
Patients and providers also have access to the unmatched Neurodiagnostics Lab which offers diagnostic testing leading to comprehensive care, as well as fostering an ideal environment for trainees. The epilepsy center collaborates with neuroradiology to provide advanced imaging to help localize the source of seizures for surgical therapy or targeted stimulation.
The nature of epilepsy and the comprehensive approach to patient care means the Epilepsy Division is highly collaborative. With neurologists/epileptologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, and support staff working together, patients receive personalized care while trainees and faculty benefit from the osmosis of working alongside experts in the field.
Research Highlights
The Vanderbilt Epilepsy surgical director, together with clinical engineering, recently received a $3 million NIH grant for epilepsy research.
Highlights of current areas of clinical research include:
- Investigational epilepsy drug trials
- Clinical genetics
- fMRI imaging
- Epilepsy surgery
Read more details about research in the Epilepsy Division on the research summary page.
Education & Training
The ACGME-approved, Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology fellowship programs train eight fellows yearly, and over the years have graduated more than 145 fellows who moved on to become leaders in their fields improving and expanding Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s impact and prestige nationwide. Read more about the fellowship programs.
In addition to the post-residency fellowship programs, the Epilepsy Division offers training to neurology residents, who rotate through the epilepsy clinic, EEG laboratory, and Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. There are various continuing education programs offered by the Division, including a year-long clinical neurophysiology course, weekly epilepsy topics conference, twice monthly epilepsy surgery conferences, monthly journal review conference, weekly EEG teaching conference, and monthly clinical case conference.
Recent & Notable Publications
To view recent publications, visit the faculty profile pages.