World-leading epilepsy specialist becomes SUDEP Action trustee

SUDEP Action is delighted to welcome Professor Ley Sander as a new charity trustee.

SUDEP Action is delighted to welcome Professor Ley Sander as a new charity trustee.

Professor Sander is renowned and revered as one of the top epilepsy specialists in the world. He is a professor of neurology and head of the department of clinical and experimental epilepsy at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and professor of neurology at the Sichuan University in Chengdu, China. He is also a consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London.

His research portfolio is both broad and global, with a strong track record in developing and assessing novel epilepsy therapies, including surgical procedures, modulation devices, and antiseizure medications.

With more than 1,200 publications, 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 an elected member of the Academia Europaea.  He is also one of the most cited researchers in SUDEP.

Professor Sander’s associations with SUDEP Action go back more than 30 years – because he was involved in the workshop at the Royal College of Physicians, organised by Jane Hanna and Stephen Brown, where the definition ‘SUDEP’ was first agreed.

He said: “I was on the initial steering committee for Epilepsy Bereaved – and when it became SUDEP Action, I was asked to become part of the scientific committee. It’s still on my CV .
“Having SUDEP Action there, counselling, supporting, talking to people who know what’s going on, is a very important role. My connections with SUDEP Action go back a long way, not as formally as being a trustee but it’s always been there.  I’m really looking forward to what we can do to educate everyone about the issues but also making sure we do what is best for people if the unfortunate happens.”

SUDEP Action Chair John Hirst said: “We’re delighted to welcome Professor Sander to our Board of Trustees, where his expertise, experience and knowledge in his field is second to none. SUDEP Action is extremely fortunate to have talented and dedicated people like Ley within its organisation, who understand both the big and small pictures; combining deep scientific knowledge with an ability to see, appreciate and understand the needs of the individual with epilepsy, or the family trying to come to terms with the sudden death of a loved one.”