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Following close of the nomination period, IBE chapters are now invited to ballot in the elections to fill the three officer positions - President, Secretary General and Treasurer – on the International Executive Committee for the term 2017-2021. Ballot papers have already been circulated and the close of balloting is December 31, 2016. The results of the elections will be announced in early January 2017. Following completion of this election cycle, elections to fill the seven regional Vice President positions on the committee will begin on January 4, 2017. As a once off, to begin the new staggering of terms on the International Executive Committee, the Vice Presidents will be elected for a two-year term 2017-2019. A third cycle of elections, to fill remaining positions on the Regional Executive Committees will start in mid-April. All elections will be completed by mid-July. The new term of office for all successfully elected candidates begins at the time of the next IBE General Assembly, taking place during the 32nd International Executive Committee in Barcelona in September 2017. Meet the candidates and read their election statements. Nominees for President Nominees for Secretary General Nominees for Treasurer

Star Wars and Star Trek Director,  J.J. Abrams, has called on people to talk about epilepsy in a new public service announcement for the TalkAboutIt.org campaign. Abrams told viewers that "Lives could literally depend on it", going on to list the statistic for the brain disease in the US. "Nearly 3 million Americans, 65 million people around the world, live with epilepsy and seizures. That’s almost 4% of the population. "150,000 Americans are diagnosed with epilepsy each year. One in 26 of us will develop epilepsy in our lifetime. Do you know 26 people? Of course you do." In the video Abrams talks about the fear of people with epilepsy to tell those around them that they have it and the misconceptions about what to do when someone is having a seizure. "We need to talk about it to get the facts about seizures. To gain understanding. To learn what epilepsy is AND what it isn’t. To erase the stigma. To support new therapies and research. To save lives. To know what to do if someone has a seizure." Learn more about epilepsy on the official International Epilepsy Day website, www.epilepsy.org.

The European Commission has begun a public stakeholder consultation which will feed into the interim evaluation of Horizon 2020, the EU's €77 billion research and innovation funding scheme running from 2014 to 2020. H2o2o has already funded several epilepsy-focused, and other neurological, research projects. More information on these projects can be found on EpilepsyAllianceEurope.org. The interim evaluation of Horizon 2020 will be an important element in preparations of a next EU research and innovation programme. Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said: "I hope as many people as possible will use the chance to have their say on Horizon 2020, its first three years and its future direction. We are already analysing available data, facts and figures. But in order to have a full overview, it is very important to get direct feedback from researchers, entrepreneurs, innovators, citizens and all types of organisations that have participated in the programme." Horizon 2020 is one of the largest research and innovation schemes worldwide. In its first two years, the programme attracted over 76,000 eligible proposals. Over 9,000 grant agreements were signed by September 1, 2016 for calls with deadlines in 2014 and 2015, allocating almost €16 billion to boosting excellent science, creating [...]

IBE is delighted to announce the launch of the next round of funding under its Promising Strategies Program. With 81 projects in 37 countries already supported under this major program, IBE is pleased to further extend its support to epilepsy associations in developing countries to empower them to create initiatives to improve the quality of life of people with epilepsy in their region. As a first step, qualifying associations are invited to submit Letters of Intent - with a closing date of November 30. A short list will be announced on December 15, and the final list of projects to receive support in 2017 will be announced in mid-January. Please consider making a donation to IBE to help us further develop the Promising Strategies Program. With your support we can do great things. Download the IBE Promising Strategy Call for Letters of Intent.

The European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA) recently held the second annual Neurology Advocacy Awards. The awards recognise the contribution of an individual or group to the development and promotion of advocacy for people with neurological disorders in Europe. This year’s winners were presented with their awards at a Gala Dinner in Dublin on October 13. The winning European Policy-Maker for 2016 was Marian Harkin MEP, a prominent member of the European Advocates for Epilepsy. She was nominated for the award, jointly, by the International Bureau for Epilepsy and Pain Alliance Europe. Gay Mitchell, former MEP, Marian Harkin MEP Marian is currently a co-chair of the MEP Interest Group on Brain, Mind and Pain – but has been long-term champion of health issues in the European Parliament. She was presented with her award by last year’s winner – Gay Mitchell, former MEP. Other awards presented on the night includes the European Health Professional,  which went to Professor Paola Giunti, the European Patient Advocate, which went to Alistair Newton, and the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented to Past President of EFNA Audrey Craven.  

The Milken Institute Center for Strategic Philanthropy has developed this Epilepsy Giving Smarter Guide with the express purpose of empowering patients, supporters, and stakeholders to make informed, strategic decisions when directing their philanthropic investments and energy into research and development efforts. The Giving Smarter Guide provides a comprehensive lay-level overview of the disease landscape, key unmet needs, philanthropic opportunities and key stakeholders in the epilepsy field. This Guide is intended for the public and philanthropic networks. Download the Giving Smarter Guide.  

A number of personal epilepsy stories have been made available over the last two International Epilepsy Days through the official website. Now another batch of stories from North America have been added. The videos were recorded as part of the Twenty20s remarkABLE project, supported by IBE's Promising Strategies initiative. They can be found at this link: http://epilepsy.org/epilepsy-stories/

CREATING ARTISTIC WAVES! Put yourself in the frame for International Epilepsy Day, Monday, February 13, 2017... enter our competition.