Invited keynote speakers

Ley Sander MD PhD FRCP FEAN FMedSci MAE, qualified at the University of Parana, in Curitiba, Brazil, completed his neurological training at St Thomas Hospital and then obtained his PhD at University College London. He is a Professor of Neurology and Head of the Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology. He is a Consultant Neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London. He is the Director of the Chalfont Centre for Epilepsy in Buckinghamshire, UK and the R&D Director of Stichting Epilepsie Instellingen Nederland (SEIN) in The Netherlands. The Chalfont Centre, which he leads, is a major hub for clinical and translational epilepsy research and is internationally recognised as a standard-setting centre in all aspects of epilepsy care and research. Sander’s research interests are in the epidemiology, genetics and co-morbidities of epilepsy, the management of chronic epilepsy and care delivery in resource-poor settings. He has over 900 publications, including original research articles, books and book chapters (GS metrics: >49,000 citations, h-index: 113). He is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, a Fellow of the European Academy of Neurology and a member of the Academia Europaea. Sander has obtained many postgraduate awards, including the Research Recognition Award for Clinical Sciences from the American Epilepsy Society, the Innovation and Sustainability in Health Award, the BUPA Foundation Epidemiology Award, the European Gower's Prize, the Bateman Award for the Alleviation of Epilepsy, the ILAE/IBE Ambassador for Epilepsy Award and the Baldev Singh Award for Clinical Neurosciences from the Indian Academy of Neurology.

Dr Samuel Wiebe, MSc, MD, FRCPC, FCAHSobtained his MD degree at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico, and specialized in Internal Medicine at the National University of Mexico. He trained in Neurology, Epilepsy and Electrophysiology at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and in Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University, Canada. He served as Director of the Epilepsy Programme at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada, where he founded the Evidence-Based Neurology Training Programme. He became Head of Neurology and Associate Dean of Clinical Research at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. He is currently Director of the Calgary Comprehensive Epilepsy Programme, Professor of Clinical Neurosciences, and Chair of the Clinical Research Unit at the University of Calgary. He has been inducted as Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He has served consecutively as Secretary General and Treasurer of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), and he is its immediate Past President. He served also as President of the Canadian League Against Epilepsy and as Chair of ILAE-North America. Dr Wiebe was instrumental in developing the recently approved World Health Organization Intersectoral Global Action Plan on Epilepsy and Other Neurological Disorders. His academic interests include epilepsy surgery, health services and outcomes, and data science in epilepsy. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles and given over 350 international lectures. Dr Wiebe has mentored numerous national and international clinicians and researchers.