2019 Lifetime Accelerator Award Winner Dr. Martin Brodie
At the 2019 Antiepileptic Drug & Device (AEDD) Trials conference in Florida, on May 24th, the Epilepsy Foundation awarded the Epilepsy Lifetime Accelerator Award to Professor Martin J. Brodie, M.D., president of the International Bureau for Epilepsy.
Dr. Brodie has been involved in epilepsy drug development for more than 30 years and was principal investigator on numerous trials that brought new therapies to market. He was an innovator of novel trial designs and is arguably the most recognized speaker on new anti-epileptic drugs in the world.
The Epilepsy Foundation also awarded a total of $200,000 in grants to two finalists who competed in the 8th Annual Shark Tank Competition. Inspired by the television show “Shark Tank,” the Epilepsy Foundation’s annual competition invites entrepreneurs from around the world to pitch their products and compete with five other finalists for funding. The winners, selected by a panel of “sharks,” will use the funding in the development and commercialization of a new product, technology, or therapeutic concept to benefit the epilepsy community.
“Given the enormous impact that seizures have on people living with epilepsy, there is an urgent need to develop more diagnostic tools and treatments to help the 65 million people worldwide living with epilepsy,” said Jacqueline French, M.D., chief medical and innovation officer at the Epilepsy Foundation and professor of neurology at NYU Langone Health’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Center. “Our goal with this competition is to foster research and innovation so that we can continue to find solutions and improve the lives of people with epilepsy. We are excited to make strategic investments in novel concepts to bring therapies to market faster and in a timeframe that matters.”
- Jody McNannay, parent of a daughter with epilepsy and co-founder of Curadite, received $50,000 from the judges. Curadite hopes to optimize its innovative medication management platform, which incorporates intelligent packaging, patient reminders and a clinician dashboard for the epilepsy community.
- Rachel Kuperman, M.D., chief executive officer of Eysz, Inc., received $75,000 from the judges and $75,000 from the audience. Her goal is to develop and deploy 100 eye-tracking wearables that will be used in a clinical study at UCSF on 300 patients to refine its patented seizure-detection algorithm.
Form more information visit: https://www.epilepsy.com/release/2019/5/epilepsy-foundation-awards-200000-grants-support-development-innovative-products