BOARD OF DIRECTORS

M. SCOTT PERRY, MD
PRESIDENT

Head of Neurosciences
Director, Genetic Epilepsy Clinic, Jane and John Justin Institute for Mind Health
Cook Children’s Medical Center
Fort Worth, TX

Jane M. McCabe
ex-officio

Executive Director
Pediatric Epilepsy Research Consortium
Longmont, CO

Michael Ciliberto , MD Chair of Nominating Committee

Director of the Pediatric EMU and the Tuberous Sclerosis Clinic at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital
Iowa City, Iowa

BIOS

  • M. Scott Perry is the Head of Neurosciences and Director of the Genetic Epilepsy Clinic at the Jane and John Justin Institute for Mind Health at Cook Children’s Medical Center, Fort Worth, TX.

    He completed his medical degree at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine and general pediatrics and child neurology training at Emory University before completing Clinical Neurophysiology fellowship at Miami Children’s Hospital.

    His clinical and research interests include the use of epilepsy surgery for the treatment of intractable childhood epilepsy and the evaluation and treatment of genetic epilepsy syndromes.

    He founded the Surgery Special Interest Group of PERC in 2017 and is principal investigator for the Epilepsy Surgery Database – a collaboration of over 20 US pediatric epilepsy centers collecting data on all children evaluated for epilepsy surgery. With over 2000 patients enrolled, this project continues to contribute practice-changing research related to pediatric epilepsy surgery.

    In addition to his role at PERC, he serves on the Child Neurology Foundation Board of Directors, Epilepsy Foundation Professional Advisory Board, and the boards of several patient advocacy groups including the Dravet Syndrome Foundation, Lennox Gastaut Foundation and Brain Recovery Project.

  • Charuta Joshi, M.D., is a Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology and the Roy D. and Ragen S. Elterman Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Epilepsy at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She specializes in developmental and epileptic encephalopathies and surgical and nonsurgical therapy for medically intractable epilepsy in children.

    Dr. Joshi earned her medical degree at Grant Medical College in Mumbai, India. She completed a residency in pediatric neurology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and gained advanced training through a clinical neurophysiology fellowship at Children’s Hospital Michigan.

    Certified in child neurology and epilepsy by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Dr. Joshi joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2022. Previously, she served as Director of Regional Neurology Services and Director of Pediatric Epilepsy Fellowship at Children’s Hospital Colorado, where she was also the epilepsy team lead.

    At UT Southwestern, Dr. Joshi is the Program Director of the Advanced EEG and Epilepsy Research Fellowship. An investigator on several clinical trials, her clinical research focuses on surgical and nonsurgical therapies for medically intractable epilepsy in children. She is also interested in global health and developmental and epileptic encephalopathies.

    Dr. Joshi has delivered scores of presentations and published a broad range of scholarly articles, abstracts, and book chapters. She serves as an ad hoc reviewer for numerous scholarly journals and is a contributing editor for Epilepsy Currents.

    An elected member of the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Consortium Steering Committee, she serves on the International Affairs Committee of the Child Neurology Society and is a member of several other professional organizations, including the American Epilepsy Society and the International Child Neurology Association.

    In 2021, Dr. Joshi received the Exceptional Women in Medicine Award from Castle Connolly.

  • Sucheta Joshi, MD, MS, FAAP, FAES is a Pediatric Neurologist and Epileptologist. She completed training at University of California San Francisco, Stanford University and University of Michigan School of Public Health. Dr. Joshi is Professor in Pediatric Neurology, USC KSOM, and the Medical Director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy program at CHLA. Her clinical interests involve difficult to treat pediatric epilepsy, EEG and EEG monitoring. Her clinical and scholarly interests also include improving access to epilepsy care for children in medically underserved areas using innovative methods for epilepsy care such as telemedicine and telementoring, and transition of adolescents with epilepsy to adult care.

    She has served as the Medical Director, and is currently on the Advisory Committee for the American Academy of Pediatrics National Coordinating Center for Epilepsy.  She has been key faculty for development of several Epilepsy ECHO projects since 2013. Dr. Joshi is Secretary of the Board of the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Consortium, an organization to foster multicenter research in Pediatric Epilepsy. She has served on the Executive Committee of the Child Neurology Society, AAP Section on Neurology, and as faculty for the AAP, American Epilepsy Society, Child Neurology Society and the International Child Neurology Association.  She has mentored medical students, residents, fellows and social workers on research projects, lectured on epilepsy related topics at national and international meetings, published several peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters and is a reviewer for scientific journals.

  • Jane M. McCabe joins us as the new Executive Director for PERC.

    She holds a B.S. in Engineering from Duke University and an MBA in Marketing from The George Washington University.

    Early in her career, she worked for Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Company. She spent five years in their Neurology Care division, which focused on treatments for adult and childhood epilepsy.

    After her two children were born, she transitioned to non-profit educational leadership, which culminated in her serving as the Head of School for Shining Mountain Waldorf School in Boulder, Colorado.

    She resides in Boulder, Colorado, and in her spare time loves to hike, bike, read, knit, cook, and laugh with her family and friends!

  • Dr. Coryell, MD, MS, is board-certified in Neurology, with special qualifications in Child Neurology, and Epilepsy. He started his career as a genetic counselor before embarking on medical school and his eventual pathway towards becoming a pediatric epileptologist. He received his medical degree at Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU), and completed residencies at both University of Washington and OHSU before completing epilepsy fellowship at University of Colorado. He returned to OHSU in 2012 as a faculty member, where he now serves as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics & Neurology.

    He has been a member of PERC since 2012 and has participated in research related to infantile spasms, early life epilepsy, epilepsy surgery, and learning healthcare systems to address quality improvement and optimizing efficacy of treatments in pediatric epilepsy. His work has resulted in a number of journal articles as well as abstracts/presentations at regional and national conferences. Dr. Coryell is an ad hoc reviewer for multiple journals, and he serves as a research mentor to medical students and residents on a continual basis.

    Clinically, Dr. Coryell is interested in working with drug-resistant epilepsy, and this encompasses developmental and epileptic encephalopathies, epilepsy surgery candidates, and children with genetic epilepsy. Aside from his research interests, he has formerly served as the clinical director for the division of child neurology at OHSU, and dedicates half of his work appointment towards the OHSU School of Medicine as a course director and career advisor for medical students.


  • Ammar Shaikhouni, MD, PhD, is a pediatric neurosurgeon at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and assistant professor of neurological surgery at The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine. Dr. Shaikhouni graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brown University where he also obtained his graduate and medical degrees. He completed his neurosurgical training at OSU. During his residency, he completed a fellowship in functional neurosurgery focusing on the use of deep brain stimulation for treatment of movement disorders including dystonia and psychiatric disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder. He then completed his training in pediatric neurosurgery at Nationwide Children’s.

    His research work at Brown University, and later at The Ohio State University, helped paralyzed patients gain control of assistive devices using their brain activity. This work was featured in multiple leading science journals and gained national and international attention. Based on his scholarly activity, Dr. Shaikhouni was voted as a member of multiple honor societies by his peers including the engineering honor society and the scientific research honor society. Dr. Shaikhouni’s clinical and research focus is on adult and pediatric epilepsy, movement disorders, and stereotactic surgery for gene and drug delivery. He has expertise in specialized neurosurgical procedures, including deep brain stimulation (DBS).

  • Juliet Knowles is Assistant Professor in Neurology at Stanford. Dr. Knowles is a physician-scientist who provides clinical care for children with epilepsy and leads a lab team conducting basic, translational and clinical research on pediatric epilepsy. She completed her M.D. and Ph.D. in Neurosciences at Stanford University, followed by residency training in Pediatrics and Child Neurology at Stanford, where she also served as Chief Resident. Following clinical fellowship training in Pediatric Epilepsy, Dr. Knowles completed post-doctoral research related to myelin plasticity in epilepsy, under the mentorship of Drs. Michelle Monje and John Huguenard. Dr. Knowles is passionate about providing thorough, compassionate, and innovative care for her patients, and her overarching goal is to use research as a tool to discover improved therapies for children with epilepsy.

Charuta Joshi, MD
TREASURER

Roy D. and Ragen S. Elterman Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Epilepsy
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, TX

John M. Schreiber, MD

Medical Director of EEG and the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit and the Director of Epilepsy Genetics at Children’s National Hospital
Washington, DC

Jason Coryell, MD
CO-Chair of Research Committee

Associate Professor of Pediatrics & Neurology
Oregon Health & Sciences University
Portland, OR

Tobias Loddenkemper, MD

Director of Clinical Epilepsy Research and Patricia B. Terwilliger Family Chair in Epilepsy Research at Boston Children’s Hospital, and Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA

Angelyque Lorenzana , MS Secretary

Clinical Research Supervisor within the Epilepsy Division at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County Research Institute (CHOC)
Anaheim, CA

Mark Slater
Chair of Marketing Committee

CEO, Executive Creative Director, Otherside Brand Strategy & Communications and Slate of Mind LLC
Person with epilepsy
Brookline, MA

JULIET KNOWLES, MD, PHD

Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences and of Pediatrics at Stanford Medicine
Stanford, CA

Janelle Wagner. PhD Co-Chair of Research Committee, Mentoring

Research Associate Professor in the College of Nursing and Research Faculty Member in the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)
Charleston, SC

AMMAR SHAIKHOUNI, MD, PHD

Pediatric Neurosurgeon at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery at The Ohio State University College of Medicine
Columbus, OH

  • Mark Slater is an award-winning writer, creative director, and strategist with almost two decades of experience building brands and businesses.

    He currently serves as the Executive Creative Director and Founder of Otherside, a brand startegy and communications agency dedicated to the epilepsy community as well as Slate of Mind, an advertising agency specializing in health, life science, and wellness.

    His client list includes hundreds of organizations, ranging from small startups to dozens of the Fortune 500. Notable recent projects include a global launch of a leading at-home antigen test for COVID-19 and presentations for U.S. policymakers on in-air pathogen surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    At age 16, Mark was diagnosed with epilepsy. Almost thirty years later, Mark now partners with an array of epilepsy organizations, dedicating a significant portion of his business resources to pro bono epilepsy advocacy. His mission at PERC and across the industry is to build the best brands in epilepsy – while helping reshape epilepsy’s narrative. Mark graduated from Vassar College and has taught at Phillips Academy, Andover, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

  • Mike Ciliberto is the director of the pediatric EMU and the tuberous sclerosis clinic at the University of Iowa Stead Family Childrens Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa. He received his medical degree and attended pediatric neurology residency and a 2-year clinical neurophysiology fellowship at Washington university and St. Lous Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. His clinical and research interests include the use of epilepsy surgery for the treatment of intractable childhood epilepsy, especially palliative epilepsy surgeries, as well as the evaluation and initiation of novel pharmaceutical therapies for patients with drug resistant epilepsy.

    He is currently the lead in the epilepsy with myoclonic atonic seizures (EMAtS) PERC special interest group (SIG) and is actively involved in the infantile spasms and surgical SIGs as well. He also is involved in multicenter projects involving the ketogenic diet and tuberous sclerosis complex and enjoys giving talks around the country on many aspects of epilepsy.

    Mike also has the pleasure of being co-founder and director of the tuberous sclerosis complex clinic at the University of Iowa and director of the pediatric EMU where he has the opportunity to mentor medical students, residents and fellow in all aspects of the care of individuals with epilepsy. He also has the pleasure of moderating a curating an epilepsy literature list serv based out of the University of Iowa for fellow neurologists around the country.

  • John M. Schreiber is the medical director of EEG and the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit and the director of Epilepsy Genetics at Children’s National Hospital. After earning his medical degree at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, he completed Pediatrics and Child Neurology training at Children’s National Hospital. Before returning in 2013, he served as an Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology Fellow at the National Institutes of Health, gaining experience in epilepsy clinical trials and in neurogenetic disorders. His primary clinical and research interests are on the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of genetically-mediated epilepsies, particularly channelopathies.

    Dr. Schreiber is the Principal Investigator at Children’s National for various epilepsy observational and interventional clinical trials with a focus on neurogenetic disorders. As the lead of PERC’s Genetics SIG, he has helped establish and grow PERC’s Genetic Epilepsy Database, with eleven centers approved and growing. In addition to his role on the PERC board, he is the co-chair for the Investigators’ Workshop Committee of the American Epilepsy Society and serves on several advisory boards, including the Epilepsy Foundation.

  • Angelyque Lorenzana presently serves as the Clinical Research Supervisor within the Epilepsy Division at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County Research Institute (CHOC). Originating from Chicago, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Concordia University and proceeded to obtain her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, specializing in Family Therapy, from Roosevelt University. Additionally, Angelyque is a Certified Clinical Research Coordinator (CCRC) accredited by the Association of Clinical Research Professionals.

    Following the completion of her Master’s program, Angelyque gained extensive experience at the Brain Vision Institute, in Barrington, Illinois where she held roles as a Clinic Program Coordinator and Clinical Research Coordinator for a span of four years. During this time, she conducted research facilitated under the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group in areas of visual rehabilitation, amblyopia, and more. Angelyque transitioned to her current role at CHOC in 2020, bringing with her expertise and dedication to advancing clinical research in the field of the epilepsy.

  • Janelle Wagner is a pediatric psychologist, holding the rank of Research Associate Professor in the College of Nursing and serving as a research faculty member in the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Her program of research includes behavioral health assessment and intervention in youth with pediatric epilepsy. Dr. Wagner received her Masters and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Oklahoma State University. She completed an internship and fellowship in Pediatric Psychology at MUSC and joined the faculty at MUSC in 2005.

    Dr. Wagner has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Epilepsy Foundation, the American Epilepsy Society, the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Foundation, and the Henkin Family Foundation. She received the William R. Turk Research Award in Pediatric Epilepsy (2007) and has been awarded fellow status in the American Epilepsy Society (2019). Dr. Wagner has over 100 peer reviewed publications and serves on the Editorial Boards for the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Epilepsia, and Epilepsy & Behavior.

    In addition to her scholarship in pediatric epilepsy behavioral health, Dr. Wagner has held/holds leadership positions within the local, national, and international epilepsy professional communities, including South Carolina Advocates for Epilepsy, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Society of Pediatric Psychology, American Academy of Neurology, American Epilepsy Society, and International League Against Epilepsy. Her service to the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Consortium (PERC) includes: creator, previous co-chair, and current member and mentor of the Behavioral Health special interest group (SIG); current member and mentor of the Health Equity SIG; and current member of the Value SIG.

    Dr. Wagner enjoys spending her personal time traveling, watching her boys play soccer, practicing yoga, and participating in a book club.

  • Tobias Loddenkemper serves as the Director of Clinical Epilepsy Research and The Patricia B. Terwilliger Family Chair in Epilepsy Research at Boston Children's Hospital, and as a Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. His work focuses on detecting, predicting, and preventing seizures, with the goal of fostering improvements in the treatment, prevention, and understanding of seizures and status epilepticus. This involves utilizing care interventions, as well as video and multimodal neurophysiological seizure monitoring through biomarker mapping and related algorithms. Dr. Loddenkemper has mentored over 40 graduate students, residents, fellows, and visiting physicians, published more than 300 peer-reviewed articles, served as an associate editor for a major journal and a reference textbook in the epilepsy field, and contributed to the development and implementation of the first wrist-worn, FDA-approved seizure detection device. Among other leadership roles, he served as Director of Quality Improvement in the Department of Neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital, and as chair of the SIG, SIG oversight, and IW committees at the AES, as well as President of the ACNS.