The UBMC Epilepsy Surgery Center represents the largest respective European site and the second largest world-wide. The joint activities of the Departments of Epileptology and Neuropathology provide a unique scientific environment integrating excellent clinical services and research with complementary basic science approaches. The infrastructure comprises one of the world’s largest fresh frozen biobanks of human bioptic specimens from epilepsy surgery of pharmacoresistant patients (n>700), a transgenic platform for the generation of ‘viral transgenic’ mice, a state of the art telemetric EEG-/video monitoring unit for epileptic mice, a neuropathology platform with long standing expertise in epilepsy associated lesions in humans and experimental animals. Importantly, these facilities are ideally complemented by those at L&B, including state of the art electrophysiological and imaging techniques. The UBMC Epilepsy Surgery Center has established a significant number of dedicated research professorships, and young researcher groups that are devoted exclusively to basic epilepsy research. These groups are embedded in the clinical research environment in close proximity to the clinical epileptology center. Due to the seamless integration of clinical and research institutes, a very strong translational approach has been realized. The research environment is characterized by a strongly interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to epilepsy research.

Expertise: Clinical Epileptology, Neuropathology of Epilepsies, Molecular Biology, viral Gene Transfer and Optogenetics, EEG monitoring.
Facilities: Clinical Epilepsy Center, EEG monitoring facilities for rodents, optogenetic and gene transfer facility, in vitro, in vivo recording facility in human epilepsy patients (single neuron physiology and local field potentials), molecular and neuropathological analyses in large fresh frozen human epilepsy-surgery biopsy bank (>700 hippocampi).
Other European projects: EuroEpinomics.

Key Personnel:
Albert J. Becker MD, Professor for Molecular Neuropathology: Molecular neuropathology, experimental epileptology (together with Dr. J. Pitsch), epigenetic analyses (together with Dr. K van Loo, K. Pernhorst). Albert Becker will serve as leader of WP4.
Susanne Schoch PhD, Professor for Molecular Neurochemistry: Molecular and cellular neurobiology, biochemistry, transgenic animal facility.
Anne M. H. Woitecki PhD: Molecular and cellular neurobiology, biochemistry, transgenic animal facility

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