Professor Alexander Hammers awarded £30k grant for epilepsy research
Image courtesy of ERUK. Professor Hammers (end of row, right) and fellow grant winners at no. 11 Downing Street
Epilepsy Research UK (ERUK) have awarded one of their six 2016 research grants to Professor Alexander Hammers’ research group in the Division of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering. The 18-month pilot grant will support research into whether inflammation in tuberous sclerosis (TS) is a sign of epileptic activity.
TS is a rare genetic condition that causes growths known as ‘tubers’ to develop in different parts of the body. It is present from birth and, due to the frequent involvement of the brain, most people with tuberous sclerosis also have epilepsy, which is often drug-resistant. The team will use a combination of imaging techniques to investigate whether inflammation in brain tubers in people with TS is a sign that the tubers are capable of generating seizures. If this is the case, it could potentially allow many more people with TS to benefit from surgical treatment.
The recipients of the six ERUK grants were announced at a reception held at No.11 Downing Street in mid-May. Dr Graeme Sills, Chair of ERUK’s Board of Trustees said: ‘2016 marks our 25th Anniversary, but there is still much to do to build on the advances of the past 25 years and research remains central to our vision of a future without epilepsy. It gives me great satisfaction to see the positive effect that our research investment has made in a number of areas that are now beginning to have an impact in everyday clinical practice.
Epilepsy Research UK may be a small player in the global research field, but it has a successful track-record of funding the people and the types of projects that are currently at the very forefront of research into the causes, treatments and consequences of epilepsy. We have an obligation to those whose lives have been touched by epilepsy to continue that vital work.’
The Downing Street reception was hosted by Under Secretary of State for Life Sciences, George Freeman MP. Prime Minister David Cameron also attended the event, which coincided with National Epilepsy Week, and spoke movingly of his own experience as a parent of a child with epilepsy.
Further information about Professor Hammers’ research is available on the Epilepsy Research UK website. Details of all six of the 2016 ERUK grant winners are also available.