Dr. Arielle Crespel, neurologist and epileptologist, has been president of Montpellier's Medical and Surgical Epilepsy Programme since Prof Michel Baldy-Moulinier's retirement. This unit was created in the early 1990s for the assessment and treatment of refractory epilepsies and more than 300 patients have been operated on. Continuing the longstanding local tradition of scientific interest and international workshops, initiated by Prof Pierre Passouant, particularly on the relationship between epilepsy and sleep, Dr Crespel has published numerous papers in this field, but also on the physiopathology of human epilepsies, on epilepsy surgery, clinical neurophysiology and antiepileptic drug pharmacology.
Dr Philippe Gélisse, neurologist and epileptologist, is the recipient of a French League Against Epilepsy research grant. After several years of studies on epilepsy at the Centre Saint Paul in Marseille, where he worked with Charlotte Dravet, Michelle Bureau and Pierre Genton, he joined Dr Crespel and Prof Baldy-Moulinier in 2000 at Montpellier's Medical and Surgical Epilepsy Programme. He has published numerous papers on epilepsies in childhood and adolescence.
His recent work focuses on sleep and epilepsy, epilepsy surgery, psychosis and epilepsy, clinical neurophysiology, and practical aspects of drug treatment in epilepsy. Dr Michelle Bureau, electroencephalographer and epileptologist, worked in Marseille with Henri Gastaut in the University Hospital and at the Centre Saint Paul, where she succeeded C.-A. Tassinari ai the helm of the EEG laboratory, under the leadership of Joseph Roger.
She collaborated with a large number of epileptologists from many countries, who received her teaching in clinical EEG. Dr Bureau is the recipient of the 2005 International Henri Gastaut Prize of the French League Against Epilepsy, the editor of Epilepsies, the journal of the FLAE and other French-speaking leagues, and was the main initiator of the successive editions of the famous Blue Guide (Epileptic syndromes in infancy, childhood and adolescence).
Her publications focus on the EEG aspects of childhood epilepsies, and sine contributed to the description of several epilepsy syndromes. Dr Pierre Genton, neurologist and epileptologist, studied in France, Germant' and the US. He worked with Henri Gastaut and the Centre Saint Paul team, including Joseph Roger, Charlotte Dravet and Michelle Bureau and their numerous foreign collaborators. He served as President of the French League Against Epilepsy (2004-2005) and initiated national, regional, and international collaborations in Europe and worldwide.
His publications deal with the genetics of epilepsy, idiopathic generalized epilepsies, progressive myoclonus epilepsies and the diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties encountered in patients with epilepsy. He is the editor or co-editor of several textbooks on epilepsy.
