Epilepsy Center

The Epilepsy Center at the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute seeks to provide advanced, multidisciplinary care, lead path-breaking research, and improve the future through clinical trials. Designated as the only adult Level 4 rated center in the region by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers, the Center is one of the most experienced in the U.S., having performed epilepsy surgery for 30 years and with eight (CK) fellowship-trained neurology physicians on staff.

Epilepsy affects over 3 million people in the US, and at least 1/3 of them suffer from seizures that are incompletely controlled with medication. Studies have shown that epilepsy centers like ours play an enormous role in reducing the mortality risk of epilepsy through specialized care.

The UCGNI Epilepsy Center remains a world-recognized hub for new epilepsy drug development, including clinical trials that led to the first and only FDA-approved, plant-based cannabis treatment for rare and severe forms of epilepsy.

Visit the UCGNI Epilepsy Center to schedule an appointment or learn more about our clinical care.  Visit the UC Department of Neurology Division of Epilepsy to learn more about education and research activity.   

Clinical Trials

• Privitera M, Haut SR, Lipton RB, McGinley JS, Cornes S. Seizure self-prediction in a randomized controlled trial of stress management. Neurology. 2019 Nov 26;93(22): e2021-e2031
• Meador KJ, Pennell PB, May RC, Van Marter L, McElrath TF, Brown C, Gerard E, Kalayjian L, Gedzelman E, Penovich P, Cavitt J, French J, Hwang S, Pack AM, Sam M, Birnbaum AK, Finnell R; MONEAD Investigator Group. Fetal loss and malformations in the MONEAD study of pregnant women with epilepsy. Neurology. 2020 Apr 94(14): e1502-e1511.
• Meador KJ, Pennell PB, May RC, Brown CA, Baker G, Bromley R, Loring DW, Cohen MJ; NEAD Investigator Group (Privitera MD). Effects of periconceptional folate on cognition in children of women with epilepsy: NEAD study. Neurology. 2020 Feb 18;94(7):e729-e740
• Leino AD, Emoto C, Fukuda T, Privitera M, Vinks AA, Alloway RR. Evidence of a clinically significant drug-drug interaction between cannabidiol and tacrolimus. Am J Transplant. 2019;19:2944-2948.
• Johnson A, McLeish AC, Shear PK, Privitera M. The role of cigarette smoking in epilepsy-related quality of life and epilepsy severity. Epilepsy & Behavior 2019 Apr;93:38-42. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2019.01.041.
• Freitas ME, Ruiz-Lopez M, Dalmau J, Erro R, Privitera M, Andrade D, Fasano A. Seizures and movement disorders: phenomenology, diagnostic challenges and therapeutic approaches. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2019 Aug;90(8):920-928.
• Haut SR, Gursky JM, Privitera M. Behavioral interventions in epilepsy. Curr Opin Neurol. 2019 Apr;32(2):227-236.