St George’s has been awarded one of seven new research grants to advance our understanding of epilepsy.

Epilepsy Research UK has funded the 12-month pilot scheme – ‘recording brain activity using electrodes placed in the nose’ – at St George’s to assess a new minimally invasive method to monitor brain activity.

If successful, this method is expected to provide useful and reliable information about patients with frontal lobe epilepsy, help patients avoid additional invasive tests, reduce the average hospital stay of patients and aid in the better management of patients via improved diagnosis.

The grant was awarded at a reception on Monday 15 May at the Royal Society which coincided with National Epilepsy Week.

Every year, 32,000 people are diagnosed with epilepsy – which equates to 88 diagnoses a day. They join the 600,000 people in the UK living with epilepsy, so this research has the potential to make a real difference.

Dr Dora Lozsadi, Consultant Neurologist and Epileptologist at St George’s, said: “We’re delighted to accept the award. Our project will impact patient care, and facilitate our understanding of frontal lobe epilepsy. This study will also establish close collaboration between our departments, and raise St George’s international epilepsy research profile.”

Other research grants were awarded to University College London Institute of Neurology, University of Manchester, Homerton University Hospital Foundation Trust and University of Warwick.

Notes to editors

For more information, please contact Pippa Harper via philippa.harper@stgeorges.nhs.uk  or 020 8725 0724, or visit Epilepsy Research UK.