A New Era in Epilepsy Research

I have started a new project - to raise $50M for research that will have a significant impact on those living with seizures in a time frame that matters.  This is no easy task, and believe it or not, in my view, raising the money will be the easy part.  Figuring how best to use that money will be the more difficult task.  Of course, these two tasks go hand in hand.  I'd like to convince the donors of this money that we will use it in a patient-centered way to significantly increase its impact on the people living with seizures.  Clearly, the process currently in place to develop therapies for adults and children with seizures has failed.  The fraction of people living with uncontrolled seizures is the same today as it was 50 years ago, despite the development of ~25 new drugs.  How will we change the process that develops these drugs in order to reduce that percentage of people?  In order to increase the quality of life of those living with epilepsy in the next 2-5 years.  That is the $50M question.  There are many reasons to believe that the time for this push has come.  As technology advances, particularly in understanding the genomic contributions to disease, our likelihood of developing better options for treatment increase.  It's an exciting time in epilepsy research!!  I'd like to challenge everyone out there who is impacted by this truly devastating, horrific disease to join me in raising the money to do the work that will make a difference in a time frame that matters to us.