2024 Pipeline Conference

This year’s Pipeline Conference was held in Atlanta, Georgia. The event, held every two years, showcased the latest in epilepsy treatment, product development, and therapeutic innovation from great minds in the field.  

Featured during the Pipeline Conference was the 2024 Epilepsy Foundation’s Annual Shark Tank Competition. The five finalists for Shark Tank presented their ideas for a chance to win up to $200,000 in prize money. Find a list of shark judges and finalists in the event details below.

The 2024 Lifetime Accelerator Award recipient was recognized and presented with the award. The 2024 award was presented to Raymond Edward Faught, Jr., MD.

If you missed any sessions of this year’s conference, find recordings of sessions below.

Wednesday, September 25

Welcome and Introduction

• Jacqueline French, MD, Chief Medical and Innovation Officer, Epilepsy
• Foundation
• Bernice Martin Lee, CEO, Epilepsy Foundation: Our Health Equity Imperative
• William Theodore, MD, President, American Epilepsy Society
• Helen Cross, MD, President, International League Against Epilepsy

SESSION I: PRECLINICAL

Moderator: Priya Balasubramanian PhD

• New preclinical models: Are they helping or hurting? Karen Wilcox, PhD, The University of Utah 
• NINDS Epilepsy Therapy Screening Program Updates: Brian Klein, PhD, NINDS
• Automated large scale anti-seizure drug testing: Tilo Aurelio Gschwind, PhD, Stanford University
• LRP-661: Abdel-Rahman Lawendy, HBsc, MD, FRCSc, PhD, London Pharmaceuticals
• PrevEpP002: Alexander Rotenberg, MD, PhD, PrevEp
• NEUmiRNA Therapeutics: Janine Erler, PhD

SESSION II: Digital solutions for clinical trials and beyond

Moderator: Caitlin Grzeskowiak PhD

• Patient/Caregiver Perspective: Alison Kukla, MPH, Epilepsy Foundation
• Considerations from lived experience for monitoring devices: Tom Stanton, MPS, Danny Did Foundation
• From conception to clinical availability - the pathway for tracking and monitoring devices: Judy Lenane, CEO, Neuroinsights, Inc.
• How do you determine that a seizure is a seizure on EEG: Nathan Fountain, MD, University of Virginia
• Towards optimized Seizure diaries as trial outcome tools – Panel Discussion: 
  • Ludovic Ampe, Neuroventis
  • Gail Farfel, PhD, Dravet Syndrome Foundation
  • Micaela Forshaw, MPH, Biohaven
  • Alison Kukla, MPH, Epilepsy Foundation
  • Meryl Lozano, MBE, Epilepsy Study Consortium, Inc.

SESSION III: DIGITAL SOLUTIONS/DEVICE

Moderator: Nathan Fountain MD

• Patient Perspective : Jessica Hauflaire, Digital Therapeutics Alliance 
• Epilepsy Foundation ChatBot: David-Alexandre Jost, Epilepsy Foundation
• Insights from Continuous EEG: Rohan Hoare, BSc, MA, PhD, EpiMinder
• Dreem: Jay Pathmanathan, MD, PhD, Beacon Biosignals
• Epiness: Oren Shriki, PhD, NeuroHelp
• EpiMonitor: Matteo Lai, MSc, Empatica
• Helpilepsy: Jonathan Schreiber, MSc, Neuroventis
• 24/7 EEG SubQ: Kristian Lykke Fick, MSc, UNEEG medical
• SAMi The Sleep Activity Monitor: Matt Anderson, SAMi
• Eysz Hyperventilation Recorder: Parth Amin, Eysz, Inc.
• NEVOA-AI: Mehrdad Seirafi, PhD, Alpha Brain Technologies B.V.
• REMI: Mark Lehmkuhle, PhD, Epitel
• Emergency / ICU EEG: Aswin Gunasekar, MBA, Zeto  

SHARK TANK COMPETITION

Shark Tank Welcome: Jacqueline French, MD, Epilepsy Foundation

• Shark tank past winners: How have they done? Caitlin Grzeskowiak, PhD, Epilepsy Foundation
• 2023 winner update: Paul Loomis – Braincapture
• 2023 winner update: Angela Liedler – Precisis GmbH

Sharks:

• Sasha Alick-Lindstrom, MD, UT Southwestern
• John Hixson, MD, Neurona Therapeutics
• Bee Lee, CEO, Epilepsy Foundation
• Wasim Q. Malik, PhD, Iaso Ventures
• Robert Smith

2024 Shark Tank Finalists

• LAMPSY: An Invisible Seizure Detection Device: Vicente Garção, CEO - LAMPSY
• Chronic Subgaleal EEG Monitoring Platform: Ruben Kuzniecky, MD, CMO – Neuroview Technology
• Theta Neurotech: Truman Pierson, CEO – Theta Neurotech
• AI Against Epilepsy: Karine Seymour, CEO – Avrio MedTech
• BioEP: A digital biomarker for epilepsy decision support: Professor John Terry – Neuronostics, Ltd

AWARD PRESENTATIONS

• 2024 May Liang & James Lintott Scholarship Recipient
  • Kristie Bauman, MD, UC Davis
  • Elaine Sinclair, DO, PhD, NYU
• 2024 Epilepsy Foundation Lifetime Accelerator Award
  • Raymond Edward Faught, Jr., MD

Thursday, September 26th

SESSION IV: PIPELINE FOR GENE BASED AND CELL THERAPIES

Moderator: Brandy Fureman PhD

• Patient Caregiver Perspective: Shawn M. Egan, PhD, CEO, FamilieSCN2A Foundation
• NRTX-1001: John Hixson, MD, Neurona Therapeutics
• ETX101: Sal Rico, MD, PhD, Encoded Therapeutics
• Pioneering tRNA Therapeutics to Cure Genetic Diseases: Gregory Robinson, PhD, Tevard Biosciences
• STK-001 in Dravet Syndrome: Carrie Condon, MPH, Stoke
• Solidus™: Kris Kahlig, PhD, Praxis Precision Medicines
• CAP-002: Swati Tole, MD, Capsida Biotherapeutics
• AMT-260: Arisha Ahmad, uniQure

SESSION V: Pediatric trials

Moderator: Alexis Arzimanoglou MD, PhD

• Patient/Caregiver Perspective: JayEtta Hecker, MS, International SCN8A Alliance
• How should we group patients for DEE trials - The path forward: Helen Cross, MD, ILAE
• RRE updates: Measuring non-seizure outcomes in disease-modifying trials: Madison Berl, PhD, Children’s National Hospital
• RRE Hot topic: Measuring seizure outcomes for disease modifying trials: Jacqueline French, MD
• Panel: measuring seizure impact beyond seizure counting: 
  • Madison Berl, PhD, Children’s National Hospital
  • Helen Cross, MD, International League Against Epilepsy
  • Gail Farfel, PhD
  • Jacqueline French, MD, Epilepsy Foundation
  • Dan Friedman, MD, MSc, NYU Grossman School of Medicine
  • JayEtta Hecker, MS, International SCN8A Alliance

SESSION VI: CLINICAL DRUGS

Moderator: Jacqueline French, MD

• Patient/Caregiver Perspective: Alison Zetterquist
• Radiprodil: Michael Panzara, MD, MPH, GRIN Therapeutics, A Neurvati Neurosciences Company
• Bexicaserin: Ian Miller, MD, Longboard Pharmaceuticals
• Ganaxolone RSE: Joseph Hulihan, MD, Marinus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
• PRAX-562: Steven Petrou, PhD, Praxis Precision Medicines, Inc.
• Rap-219: Arnold Gammaitoni, PharmD, Rapport Therapeutics

SESSION VII: CLINICAL TRIAL CONDUCT

Moderator: Christopher Elder, MD

• Patient/Caregiver Perspective: Melissa Maske
• European Consortium for Epilepsy Trials (ECET): Alexi Arzimanoglou, MD, PhD
• Why is recruitment getting harder: Daniel Friedman, MD, MSc, NYU Grossman School of Medicine
• What is causing the placebo response? New Data: Wesley Kerr, MD, PhD, University of Pittsburgh
• Increasing DEI and trial enrollment: Jonathan Williams, MD, Washington University
• Panel: Improving recruitment in trials: 
  • Alexis Arzimanoglou, MD, PhD, European Consortium for Epilepsy Trials
  • Christopher Elder, MD, NYU Grossman School of Medicine
  • Daniel Friedman, MD, NYU Grossman School of Medicine
  • Wesley Kerr, MD, PhD, University of Pittsburgh
  • Melissa Maske
  • Jonathan Williams, MD, Washington University

SESSION VIII: CLINICAL DRUGS

Moderator: Raymond Edward Faught, Jr., MD

• Azetukalner: Monica Dhakar, MD, FAES, Xenon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
• BHV 7000: Jason T. Lerner, MD, Biohaven Pharmaceuticals
• SPN-817: Neeti Mehta, PhD, Supernus Pharmaceuticals
• EPX-100: George Nomikos, MD, PhD, Harmony Biosciences
• Staccato Alprazolam: Robert Roebling, MD, UCB
• NOE-101: Rosemarie Roeloffs, Noema Pharma

Thank You to Our 2024 Pipeline Sponsors 

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