Irish Neurologist Wins Prestigious International Epilepsy Award

Irish neurologist wins prestigious international epilepsy award

September 15th 2009

(Dr. Norman Delanty receives his Ambassador for Epilepsy award from Prof. Peter Wolf, International League Against Epilepsy at the International Epilepsy Congress in Budapest)

Dr. Norman Delanty, Consultant Neurologist at Beaumont Hospital has been awarded the prestigious Ambassador for Epilepsy Award at the recent 28th International Epilepsy Congress in Budapest.

The Ambassador for Epilepsy Award is conferred every two years by the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE) and the International League against Epilepsy (ILAE) and signifies peer recognition of outstanding international contributions to activities advancing the cause of epilepsy. Recipients must have made a commitment “above and beyond the call of duty”, either voluntarily or professionally, in the field of epilepsy.

Ambassador Awards are presented every 2 years at the International Epilepsy Congress and a maximum of 12 Awards are presented at any one time. First introduced in 1968, the awards are given for the lifetime of the recipient and the name of each recipient is added to the Ambassadors' Hall of Fame maintained by the IBE and the ILAE. Dr. Delanty is only the 6th Irish person to receive the award. Previous winners include Prof. Jack Lyons, Prof. Niall O’Donohoe, Dr John Kirker, Mr Richard Holmes and current Brainwave CEO and newly elected IBE President, Mr Mike Glynn.

Dr. Delanty was nominated for the award by Brainwave The Irish Epilepsy Association and The Irish Epilepsy League.

Norman Delanty, B.Sc., M.B., F.R.C.P.I.

Dr. Delanty was appointed Consultant Neurologist and Director of the Epilepsy Service and National Epilepsy Surgery Programme at Beaumont Hospital in 2000.

After graduating from University College Cork in 1988, he completed his neurology residency at Cornell Medical Centre in the USA before moving to Philadelphia in 1997 to complete a fellowship at Penn Epilepsy Centre at the University of Pennsylvania. He received a Fellowship of the RCPI in 2001 and is Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics at the RCSI. Dr Delanty is also a member of the Irish Institute of Clinical Neurosciences and is a board member of Brainwave The Irish Epilepsy Association. He is also part of a team currently working towards the establishment of a National Centre for Epilepsy.

Dr. Delanty is currently working on a number of epilepsy research projects. He is a Principal Investigator on a Pharmacogenomics of Epilepsy project, funded by RCSI via the Higher Education Authority, and collaborates with other investigators in the U.K., U.S.A., and Belgium. The Epilepsy Team at Beaumont Hospital are also currently developing an epilepsy-specific electronic patient record for routine clinical and research use, this project being funded by the Health Research Board.

Dr. Delanty has had more than 70 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters published. His book “Seizures: Medical Causes and Management” was published in 2002, and earlier this year “Therapeutic Strategies in Epilepsy” was published with co-editor, Dr. Jackie French. ENDS

Further Information

For more information, contact Peter Murphy, Brainwave The Irish Epilepsy Association. 01 4557500. [email protected].

Relevant links:

The International League Against Epilepsy - www.ilae.org

The International Bureau For Epilepsy - www.ibe-epilepsy.org

Brainwave The Irish Epilepsy Association – www.epilepsy.ie

Irish Epilepsy League - www.ilae.org/Chapter/Ireland/