Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Research Activities:
My current research projects include both funded and unfunded efforts in two areas, medical informatics, especially health-related computing by patients, and the evaluation and management of epilepsy.

I have exchanged email with patients since the early 1990’s and have observed patient activities in health-related discussion groups since about 1995. As a consequence of those observations, my colleagues and I developed and are studying patient-centered applications on the World Wide Web. Over the last 7 years, we’ve used interviews, focus groups and other qualitative methods to understand how patients use these resources and how best to serve them in our own practice. I’ve received funding from the National Library of Medicine and the Research Council of Partners Healthcare to further these studies.

My research into the evaluation and management of epilepsy has included being site PI on a large NIH-funded multicenter study of early surgery for epilepsy related to mesial temporal sclerosis. I’ve also been involved in several randomized control trials of anticonvulsant drugs and new devices. In the latter category, we are presently preparing to take part in a trial of an implantable device that performs seizure detection and brain stimulation to prevent seizures. Finally, I am collaborating with the behavioral medicine group at MGH to examine the impact of cognitive behavioral therapy on seizures and the severity of epilepsy. We are currently seeking funding for that effort.
Teaching Activities:
I presently teach medical students, residents and fellows at the MGH. I interact with medical students during attending duties for one or two months each year and I also take part in the teaching/evaluation oral examination at the conclusion of their neurology rotation several times a year. I give regular lectures to both residents and students in the context of noon teaching conferences, and serve as preceptor for the residents each week in the outpatient area. My fellows and I learn from each other at weekly EEG reading sessions, at weekly outpatient clinic sessions and during inpatient rounds on the epilepsy monitoring unit. Clinical Activities:
I presently see up to 20 outpatients at each of two half-day sessions each week, one general neurology session with residents and one epilepsy session with fellows. I also see my own epilepsy patients and perform consultation on new patients during one half-day session each week. The use of email and a secure, WWW-based resource to exchange messages with patients has resulted in our ability to manage more patients and problems than in the past and I’ve estimated that there are about 500 patients in my panel at this time. Lastly, I am the inpatient attending of record on the general neurology service up to two months yearly, read EEGs one morning every week and read the epilepsy monitoring studies daily during 3 months each year.