Developing Clinically Viable Biomarkers to Assess Anti-seizure Drug Efficacy
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Phd Candidate
Ashley Reynolds
Project Details
Anti-seizure medication (ASM) efficacy means lifelong seizure freedom, but current methods to predict this are severely limited. This project aims to identify electroencephalography (EEG) biomarkers of ASM efficacy. This will be achieved by using breakthrough technology to continuously record electrical activity from the brain (over months and years), signal processing methods from engineering, mathematics from complex systems theory, graph theory and particle physics, and the recent re-discovery of seizure cycles in epilepsy. The knowledge gained from this longitudinal analysis will then be translated into methods which doctors can apply to routine EEG in clinics and hospitals. These biomarkers will improve our ability to monitor epilepsy and support decisions related to medication. Thereby, helping people to achieve seizure freedom sooner and reduce the risk of medication side effects.
Biography
I studied a Bachelor of Behavioural Neuroscience and during my studies I became interested in neurology. I then studied medicine and surgery at the University of Leeds and worked for several years in the University of Cambridge Hospitals in the UK and Monash Health and Eastern Health in Australia. Whilst working as a doctor, I learned about neurobionic devices and wanted to understand how they are developed and could be used and what their limitations are. I therefore decided to pause my clinical training to undertake a PhD where I work with cutting edge epilepsy technologies and learn from experts to apply engineering and mathematical methods to the brain. The fact that there is a massive collaborative journey to understand the brain is what I find most exciting.
Researchers
Ashley Reynolds, PhD Candidate