Three FutureNeuro researchers have secured over €700,000 in funding from the Health Research Board (HRB) and Epilepsy Ireland under the HRCI-HRB Joint Funding Scheme, bringing Epilepsy Ireland’s total investment in research to over €2 million. This partnership between Health Research Charities Ireland (HRCI) and the HRB supports research addressing priorities identified by patients and their communities. Prof David Henshall, Director of FutureNeuro, Dr Cristina Reschke and Prof Mark Cunningham have each received an award through the scheme, aiming to improve how epilepsy is understood, treated and managed. Their projects range from using biological clues to predict which epilepsy patients will benefit most from surgery, to timing epilepsy medication around the body’s natural clock, to helping surgeons target seizures more precisely. 

Reading gene activity from surgical electrodes 

Prof Henshall’s project, CONTACTS (Characterizing Epilepsy Outcomes via Neurophysiological and Transcriptomic Analysis of stereoEEG Contacts) builds on a discovery his team made while studying stereo-EEG electrodes, thin depth electrodes temporarily implanted in the brain to pinpoint where seizures begin before surgery. His group found these electrodes retain trace genetic material once removed, offering a rare window into the living human brain. 

With approximately €236,000 in funding over three years, CONTACTS will recruit patients undergoing evaluation for epilepsy surgery at Beaumont Hospital, working with clinical lead Dr Peter Widdess-Walsh. The team will analyse the genetic material in these samples and use the findings to understand how biological processes differ between sites that generate seizures versus places to which those seizures spread. Alongside brain imaging and electrical recordings, this data will help computer scientists build models to predict which patients are most likely to become seizure-free after surgery. 

Prof Henshall said: 

“This project builds on our discovery that implanted brain electrodes contain valuable molecular information that can reveal what is happening inside the living human brain. By combining these insights with advanced computational approaches, we ultimately hope to achieve better outcomes for people living with epilepsy.” 

Understanding sleep and body clock disruption in Dravet syndrome 

Dr Reschke’s project, DS-COMBINE (A Multi-Modal, Circadian-Informed Strategy for Personalised Care in Adults with Dravet Syndrome), has secured €240,000 in funding over three years. The team will investigate how disrupted circadian rhythms — the body’s internal 24-hour clock — relate to sleep problems, seizure timing and medication response in adults with Dravet syndrome. This severe, lifelong neurodevelopmental syndrome causes epilepsy alongside a range of other health and developmental challenges. 

Most research into Dravet syndrome focuses on children, since it is typically diagnosed in infancy. As a result, adults living with the condition are an overlooked population, despite facing serious challenges around sleep, seizures and overall health throughout their lives. This study turns the focus to that adult population, using wearable sensors, sleep diaries and samples like blood or saliva to build a fuller picture of how their body clocks function. It will compare findings with adults who experience seizure-like episodes not caused by abnormal brain activity, to help distinguish patterns specific to Dravet syndrome. 

The researchers hope to identify biomarkers, measurable biological signals, that could help personalise the timing of melatonin and anti-seizure medications to each person’s own body clock. 

Dr Reschke said: 

“Adults with Dravet syndrome remain significantly under-researched despite facing substantial challenges related to sleep, seizures and overall health. By bringing together sleep, circadian biology, seizures and medication timing, we hope to better understand how these factors influence epilepsy in adulthood and use these insights to personalise treatment timing, improve care and ultimately reduce the risks these patients face.” 

Improving surgical precision through brain mapping 

Prof Mark Cunningham’s project, MAP-IT (MEG Assisted Planning for Intraoperative Targeting), has secured approximately €233,000 in funding to trial a new wearable brain scanner that could help surgeons plan epilepsy surgery more precisely. 

The project is a collaboration with Trinity College Dublin — home to Ireland’s first OPM-MEG facility — and Beaumont Hospital, and will test whether this wearable device, which uses a technique called magnetoencephalography (MEG) to pick up the tiny magnetic signals produced by brain activity, can help identify the areas of the brain responsible for seizures. The team will compare these scans against recordings taken directly from the brain during surgery, to see how closely the two approaches match up. 

The study will focus on adults with epilepsy caused by glioma, a type of brain tumour, whose seizures don’t always stop after the tumour is removed, because the tissue driving seizures can extend beyond what’s visible on a scan. If successful, this non-invasive scanning approach could give surgeons a clearer picture of the brain before they operate, which could ultimately help them remove seizure-causing tissue more precisely while protecting healthy areas. The project will also work closely with patient groups, including Brain Tumour Ireland and Epilepsy Ireland, to help guide how the technology could eventually be used in patient care. 

Prof Cunningham said: 

“This project brings together advanced brain imaging and brain-monitoring technologies with surgical decision-making. Our goal is simple: to improve our ability to identify the brain tissue responsible for seizures, helping to make epilepsy surgery more precise and ultimately more effective for patients. We are delighted to have the support of Epilepsy Ireland for this project and are grateful to everyone who has made this research possible.” 

Peter Murphy, Epilepsy Ireland CEO, added:  

“This funding marks the latest chapter in our longstanding collaboration with FutureNeuro, a partnership that continues to grow and deliver new opportunities for epilepsy research in Ireland. Through the dedication of our donors and supporters and the expertise of FutureNeuro’s researchers, we are helping to advance discoveries that can lead to better treatments, better outcomes and a better quality of life for people with epilepsy in Ireland and beyond. We look forward to working with all researchers and their teams on their projects over the next three years.” 

Together, these awards highlight the breadth and potential impact of epilepsy research taking place across FutureNeuro. Congratulations to Prof Henshall, Dr Reschke, Prof Cunningham and all their collaborators on this achievement.