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2026 Elizabeth Hart Dalton Scholarship Announcement
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The Epilepsy Foundation of Virginia (EFVA) is very proud to announce the recipients of the 2026 Elizabeth Hart Dalton Memorial Scholarship: Miranda Bauer and Raheem Spady. These students have demonstrated resilience, courage, and dedication to their educations in their journeys with epilepsy.
Established by EFVA with the generous help of the Dalton family in memory of Elizabeth Hart Dalton, the scholarship awards $2,500 each to two Virginia-based students currently managing epilepsy or seizure disorders.
This year, EFVA received 7 applications. Applicants were evaluated based on their commitment to their education and academic performance, college acceptances, and most of all, their personal essay describing how they have overcome the many challenges associated with epilepsy. Succeeding academically while managing and thriving with epilepsy requires persistence, discipline, and a great deal of planning- qualities that both of these recipients embody. These students represent the vision of the scholarship in their courage in living with epilepsy, a commitment to their education, and perseverance in removing the barriers their condition presents.
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Raheem, who is finishing his nursing degree, wrote:
My decision to become a nurse comes from deep personal experiences within healthcare settings. I have seen what compassionate care looks like, and I have also seen the difference it makes when a patient feels truly understood. As someone who has been a patient, I know how important it is to feel heard, respected, and safe. I want to be the nurse who provides that reassurance the one who sees beyond a diagnosis and treats the whole person. My lived experience with epilepsy gives me a unique ability to connect with patients who may feel vulnerable or overlooked.
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Miranda, who is attending school to become a physician's assistant, wrote:
My diagnosis changed how others saw me, and how I saw myself. I wasn’t just "Miranda Bauer" anymore, I was now “the girl who had a seizure at school.” Friends and family became overly protective, constantly watching what I was doing or how I was acting, treating me like I was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. At the same time, I faced the loss of the future I had planned. [...] Despite this I continued the admissions process, and [...] I ultimately chose Virginia Commonwealth University, a decision that was difficult at the time to make, but I now know was right for me. What I once viewed as a limitation to my success, has become the foundation for my future.
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The Elizabeth Hart Dalton Memorial Scholarship is open to high school seniors or college freshmen entering their first fall semester or continuing adult learners who reside in Virginia, are under a physician’s care for epilepsy, and are undergoing treatment or taking anticonvulsant medications.
To learn more about the scholarship, visit https://www.epilepsyva.com/scholarships
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Thank you to our recent donors, who enable us to help epilepsy heroes daily!
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Thank you to the Mu Omega Sigma Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority!
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Many thanks to the Sigma Gamma Rho's Mu Omega Sigma chapter, who fundraised $770 for EFVA during their Annual Epilepsy Walk! Attendees met with the INOVA epilepsy team and a Teens Speak Up! representative, and left feeling informed about what epilepsy is and and empowered about seizure safety do's and don'ts.
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Thank you to all the participants and donors!
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Vote today to bring the epilepsy documentary "Under The Lights" to Richmond or Winchester, Virginia!
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UNDER THE LIGHTS is an award winning film about a boy named Sam. Sam has epilepsy, and all he wants sometimes is to feel normal.
From the filmmaker Miles Levin himself:
"If you see yourself in Sam, this is for you. If you've ever felt unseen, this is for you. Be loud, tell a friend or stranger your story. You will make an impact."
Would you go to a screening of Under The Lights to Richmond or Winchester? Vote below!
See www.underthelightsfilm.com for more.
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National Epilepsy Foundation Leadership Conference 2026 Report
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EFVA Vice President and Board Member John Lannen, along with Executive Director Suzanne Bischoff, attended the 2026 Leadership Conference this April. Both came away saying it was one of the most inspiring conferences they’ve ever been to. The following is a joint report.
One of the highlights was a talk by Dr. Koroshetz, former director of NINDS. He did an excellent job explaining what current science can actually do for epilepsy- laying out the big picture while still making the research easy to understand. Since he was let go from NINDS last January, there’s a real hope that someone with his knowledge and clarity continues to be involved in advancing care for neurology patients in the U.S.
The conference featured many powerful voices, including people living with epilepsy and parents sharing their experiences. Epilepsy Foundation (EF) Executive Bee Martin Lee- one of those inspiring heroes- opened her talk on the strength of working together in a memorable way, entering the room dancing in a black, silver and gold suit and immediately energizing the audience.
There were also some standout presentations. A young filmmaker with epilepsy, Miles Levin, shared his film "Under the Lights", which seems especially well-suited for teenage audiences. Minnesota Senator Jim Abeler spoke movingly about his son’s SUDEP, and Senator Klobuchar, co-founder of the epilepsy caucus, joined via Zoom to give her remarks. Other sessions included strategies for forming corporate partnerships, the importance of diversifying sources of revenue development, and the benefits of having a variety of skill sets for board members, along with importance of leveraging everyone’s connections.
EF staff provided clear updates on new programs available through the epilepsy.com website, including SAGE, an AI-based tool designed specifically around EF epilepsy resources. EFVA regional director Lowell Evans’ work training law enforcement was also recognized during one of the sessions.
Following the conference, John and Suzanne outlined a few next steps. John plans to reach out to Richmond EFVA Board members to work together on clarifying that there is no official affiliation tied to the name "Central Virginia Chapter Epilepsy Foundation of Virginia". Suzanne will focus on several priorities: restarting efforts to secure state funding, exploring ways to engage Virginia teenagers using Miles Levin’s film, bringing back music/epilepsy programs, and supporting ongoing epilepsy caucus initiatives. They will also jointly begin the process for finding a new staff addition for Northern Virginia.
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Epilepsy and first aid training session for bus drivers in Northern VA
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Regional codirector Shrinidhi conducted seizure awareness and first aid training for over 200 school bus drivers for Arlington Public Schools in Northern Virginia!
Thank you, Shrinidhi!
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Southwest Virginia Epilepsy Heroes Clinic Visit
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Executive Suzanne Bischoff recently returned to the clinic in Bristol, Virginia, where she met extensively with 18 families affected by epilepsy. During these conversations, families shared a number of troubling experiences. Several reported that neurologists had incorrectly characterized a patient's seizures as non-epileptic events. Another individual was denied reasonable workplace accommodations for epilepsy, and Suzanne was dismayed by the lengths to which company representatives reportedly went to discourage the employee from pursuing those accommodations.
Some individuals with epilepsy were nonverbal, requiring family members to advocate on their behalf and share their experiences. The Epilepsy Foundation of Virginia is deeply grateful for the dedicated medical professionals who work tirelessly to address the wide range of challenges faced by people living with epilepsy.
The Foundation remains committed to supporting these individuals and their families, investing significant time and effort to help ensure they receive the understanding, accommodations, and services they deserve from schools, employers, law enforcement, and other community institutions.
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Image courtesy of visitswva.org, copyrighted NEIKIRK IMAGE
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EFVA welcomes new Professional Advisory Board member Sara Inati, M.D.
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Dr. Sara Inati, new PAB member
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Sara Inati, MD, is the Head of the Neurophysiology of Epilepsy Unit in the Surgical Neurology Branch at NINDS. She received her M.D. from Dartmouth Medical School and completed her medical training at Lenox Hill Hospital and the Neurological Institute at Columbia University Medical Center, adding in two years of fellowship training in epilepsy and clinical neurophysiology at the Columbia Comprehensive Epilepsy Center.
Dr. Inati currently serves as the Program Director for the Epilepsy Fellowship Program and Assistant Program Director for the Clinical Neurophysiology Fellowship Program at NIH. She is board certified in Neurology with added qualifications in Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology, and her research interests include better understanding the pathophysiology of epilepsy and advancing treatment of patients with medically refractory focal epilepsy. We are very glad to have her on the professional advisory board.
Welcome, Dr. Inati!
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11th Annual Tour de Midnight planning and fundraising continues!
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Are you interested in sponsoring the Tour de Midnight?
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Is Mozart an anti-seizure treatment?
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Stock photo from peopleimages
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Have you heard that playing classical music for babies makes them smarter?
A scientific article published in 1993 (Rauscher et al.) found that after listening to ten minutes of a Mozart piano sonata, college students appeared to show increased spatial reasoning skills compared to control groups, and displayed a very short temporary IQ score boost. Called the "Mozart K448 effect", this might be why you've heard that playing Mozart for your child helps their cognition.
Wishful thinking? Maybe not! A research article published in 2021 (Quon et al.) investigated the aspects of the musical stimulation, finding that 30 seconds of listening to Mozart's "Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major", also known as K448, appeared to reduce interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) in adults with refractory epilepsy.
Three years later (yes, that's 31 years after the original paper), another group (Zheng et al.) found that listening to K448 appears to help decrease seizures in children with epilepsy. Listening to Mozart K448 for ten minutes per day for 3 months was associated with a lower seizure frequency and lower frequency of epileptic discharges (ED) observed via EEG. The authors suggest that the rhythm and spectral flux, or the acoustic characteristics of the music piece, are correlated with the antiepileptic effect on children with epilepsy.
Interested in reading more?
- Quon, R.J., Casey, M.A., Camp, E.J. et al. "Musical components important for the Mozart K448 effect in epilepsy." Sci Rep 11, 16490 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95922-7
- Cooney, Elizabeth. "New study revives a Mozart sonata as a potential epilepsy therapy." Interview with statnews.com (2021). https://www.statnews.com/2021/09/16/mozart-piano-sonata-potential-epilepsy-therapy/
- Zheng L, Lin L, Zeng Q. "Application of Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major in Children with Epilepsy and Effect of Acoustic Quality on Epileptic Discharges." Noise Health. 2024 Jul-Sep 01;26(122):390-395. doi: 10.4103/nah.nah_75_24.
- Volkers, Nancy. "Can music change the brain? Mozart, neuromodulation and seizures." ILAE (2020). https://www.ilae.org/journals/epigraph/epigraph-vol-22-issue-5-fall-2020/can-music-change-the-brain-mozart-neuromodulation-and-seizures
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New research: Could editing your genes help treat your epilepsy?
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Manoj Patel, PhD: Using Gene Therapy to Tackle Pediatric Epilepsy.
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A new research article from a team at UVA, led by Dr. Manoj Patel, finds that gene editing can rescue seizures and sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP) in mice with SCN8A epilepsy. This rare form of pediatric epilepsy is caused by genetic mutations that lead to severe seizures and can possibly lead to SUDEP in patients that have it.
Dr. Patel shared that he's excited about the possibilities. Instead of treating the seizure disorder by addressing the symptoms, he is hopeful that they can go in and edit the mutated genes, correcting the mutations at their source.
This research is moving forward with toxicology studies and clinical trials. Stay tuned!
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If you are an epilepsy hero in need of a paint kit to join in, please contact us! We have paint kits to distribute thanks to the Jack and Jill Club of Reston.
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Inova Neuroscience and Spine Institute
1st Tuesday every month
Link to flyer
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Virginia Epilepsy Support Group
4th Wednesday every month
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S.H.A.R.E.
Dates and times change, check website
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SHARE invites epilepsy heroes of the DC metropolitan area, Virginia, and Maryland region to meet with other epilepsy heroes over zoom and in person! Meeting times vary each month- for more information, check the website.
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Our epilepsy community is stronger each year because of YOU.
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Register now for programs and events offered by the EFVA!
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EFVA 2024-2025 Financial Documents:
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