Biography

Professor Helen Cross

Professor Helen Cross is The Prince of Wales’s Chair of Childhood Epilepsy and Deputy Head of the Developmental Neuroscience Programme at University College London-Institute of Child Health, as well as Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Neurology at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, London and Young Epilepsy, Lingfield, UK.

Although she has a significant research commitment, she has been involved specifically in developing epilepsy services. She is Secretary General of the ILAE 2013-2017, Clinical Advisor to the National Children’s Epilepsy Surgery Service, Chair of the British Paediatric Neurology Association Research Committee and Chair of the Neurosciences Clinical Study Group of the Clinical Research Network (Children). She recently was awarded an OBE in the Queens Birthday Honours 2015.

Professor Bernard Dan

Bernard Dan is a paediatric neurologist and professor of neurophysiology and developmental neurology in Brussels (Université libtre de Bruxelles), and is director of rehabilitation at Inkendaal Hospital. His clinical and research interest includes motor control, particularly in cerebral palsy and neurogenetic conditions. He chairs the scientific committee of the European Academy of Childhood Disability. He has over 200 journal articles, authored books on childhood disability, Angelman syndrome, co-edited a major reference book on cerebral palsy and is co-editing one on ethics in childhood neurodisabilities (Mac Keith Press). He serves as editor-in-chief for Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. He was the recipient of the 2012 John Stobo Prichard Award.

Professor Anna Jansen

Prof. Anna Jansen is Head of Clinics at the Pediatric Neurology Unit UZ Brussel and holds  a part-time research appointment as FWO Senior Clinical Investigator at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She is affiliated to the Department of Public Health and teaches in Youth Health. She obtained her PhD in 2008 addressing the role of genetic factors in epilepsy. Her current research focuses on the genetic basis of developmental brain malformations. She coordinates a multidisciplinary clinic for tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), is Vice-Chair of the TOSCA registry, participates in EPISTOP (FP7), and serves as PI on clinical trials in the field of epilepsy and TSC. Her research has resulted in the publication of over 50 peer-reviewed articles, and has been presented internationally.

Professor Michael Van Doren Johnston

Michael Johnston is the Chief Medical Officer of the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, USA. He holds the Blum Moser Endowed Chair for Pediatric Neurology and his research interests have been in the pathogenesis of injuries in the developing brain and the development of  neuroprotective therapies for these injuries. Work in his laboratory has contributed to the knowledge that over-stimulation of NMDA and other glutamate receptors contributes to neonatal brain injury associated with asphyxia, as well as to the use of therapeutic hypothermia to reduce the incidence of cerebral palsy from asphyxia in term infants.

Dr Jitendra Kumar Sahu

Dr Jitendra Kumar Sahu is currently Associate Professor in the Pediatric Neurology Division, Department of Pediatrics at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India. His training included DM in Pediatric Neurology from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He is the recipient of research grants from Indian Council of Medical Research, Department of Science & Technology, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research & PGIMER. He has to his credit more than 55 research publications in international and national journals. His interests are in pediatric epilepsy particularly West Syndrome. He is the founder member of Indian Society of Evidence Based Health Care. He is also the executive board member of Association of Child Neurology, India.

Dr Aric Sigman

Dr Aric Sigman lectures in child health education and publishes papers on child health and development subjects including excessive discretionary screen time and screen dependency. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society.

Dr Sigman has twice been invited to address the European Parliament Working Group on the Quality of Childhood in the European Union, once on the health implications of electronic media and screen dependency, and again on preventing alcohol use disorders among children and adolescents. www.aricsigman.com

Professor Jo Wilmshurst

Professor Jo Wilmshurst is Head of Paediatric Neurology at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, University of Cape Town, in South Africa. She is Secretary of the International Child Neurology Association. She is a member of the executive board of the Paediatric Neurology and Development Association of Southern Africa (PANDA-SA) and the African Child Neurology Association (ACNA). She is chair of the Commission on Paediatrics for the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) and Education officer for the Commission on African Affairs. She is director of the African Paediatric Fellowship Program – a training program under the auspices of the University of Cape which aims at developing skills in paediatric disciplines of doctors from across Africa. She is an associate editor for Epilepsia and on the editorial board for the JICNA, the Journal of Child Neurology, Epileptic Disorders, Seizure and Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. She has over 80 peer reviewed publications. She has interests in rare neurological disorders, such as neuromuscular diseases and neurocutaneous syndromes, and common high impact diseases, such as epilepsy and neuroinfections.

Dr Ingrid Tein

Division of Neurology, Dept. of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, and Dept. of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, The University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Dr. Ingrid Tein is founder and Director of the Neurometabolic Clinic, Investigational Unit and Research Laboratory and Staff Neurologist in the Division of Neurology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and Associate Professor of Pediatrics and of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto. She is also a Senior Associate Scientist in the Genetics and Genomic Biology Program in the Research Institute of the Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Tein’s research has focused on understanding the pathophysiologic mechanisms of genetic fatty acid oxidation and mitochondrial disorders for the development of new treatments and has been supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Muscular Dystrophy Association, United Mitochondrial Diseases Foundation and Rare Diseases Foundation. She is author of over 135 peer-reviewed original articles and reviews and has given over 260 invited talks. She is recipient of the Samuel Lunenfeld Foundation Scholarship, Medical Research Council of Canada Scholarship, ICNA John Stobo Prichard Investigator Award, Detweiler Fellowship and William Hawke Award for Clinical Excellence in Teaching. She has served on multiple North American Clinical and Research Advisory Boards (NIH, MDAC, MRC, CIHR, SMA). Dr. Tein is an elected member of the Executive Board of the International Child Neurology Association (ICNA) since 2002. She served as Chair of the Scientific Program Committee for the International Child Neurology Congress in Cairo, 2010 and on the ICNA Research Task Force since 2002 serving as Chair from 2011-2014 and is a member of the ICNA Education and Training Committee. She is currently the President of ICNA (2014-2018).