Inheriting epilepsy
Carrie Hammond, Genetic counsellor, Swansea University

It has been known for a long time that some types of epilepsy can be inherited. However, only about 1% of cases of epilepsy show a clear family inheritance pattern. For the 60% of people with epilepsy, no specific cause for their seizures can currently be found. Research is just beginning to show how genes may play a role in these cases.

Anti-epileptic drugs: past, present and future
Munir Pirmohamed, Professor of Pharmacology, University of Liverpool

The process of developing anti-epileptic drugs has changed a great deal over the last fifty years. From discoveries by accident via carefully planned drug design programmes, the future looks set to include pharmacogenomics, or how our genes affect how we respond to drugs. Find out how anti-epileptic drugs are developed today and where the process might change in the future.

Developing a new imaging technique: electrical impedance tomography
David Holder, Professor of Biophysics and Clinical Neurophysiology, Middlesex Hospital and University College Hospital

Professor David Holder and his interdisciplinary research group at University College London have been working on a new method of imaging fast electrical activity in the brain: Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT). Professor Holder describes why he thinks a new imaging method is necessary and his nearly 20 years' work to develop it.