Jing-Qiong (Katty) Kang

Members of the Kang lab include (front row from left) Melissa Deleeuw, Jing-Qiong (Katty) Kang, MD, PhD, Wangzhen Shen, MD, and Karishma Randhave, and (back row from left) Ekta Anand, Debbie Song, and Kirill Zavalin, PhD. (photo by Susan Urmy)
December 10, 2024

Therapy for genetic epilepsy in children showing promise

Preliminary results of a clinical trial of 4-phenylbutyrate (PBA) “show a significant reduction in seizure activity among participants.”

By Bill Snyder
Monica Elnekaveh hugs her daughter Eleanor, who is wearing a gauze cap to keep the adhesive-attached electrodes and wires in place during a 72-hour ambulatory electroencephalogram (EEG), used in the diagnosis of epilepsy, head injury and other brain disorders. (photo courtesy of Monica Elnekaveh)
November 29, 2023

Nonprofits support quest to cure childhood epilepsy

Monica Joanna Elnekaveh was doing everything she could to learn what was causing her 18-month-old daughter’s developmental issues. Her relentless quest to find answers eventually led her to Vanderbilt investigative neurologist Jing-Qiong (Katty) Kang, MD, PhD.

By Bill Snyder
October 6, 2022

Gene tied to childhood epilepsy

Data drawn from four unrelated patients with a childhood epilepsy syndrome — and from in vitro and in vivo studies — link novel variants in a GABA transporter gene to seizure activity, Vanderbilt researchers reported.

By Paul Govern
June 23, 2021

Common mechanism found for diverse brain disorders: study

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have identified a common mechanism underlying a spectrum of epilepsy syndromes and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism, that are caused by variations in a gene encoding a vital transporter protein in the brain.

By Bill Snyder
brain and lightning
January 21, 2021

Inflammation in genetic epilepsy

Brain inflammation links genetic and acquired epilepsy — providing new clues about epilepsy development and pointing to potential treatments.

By Leigh MacMillan
October 3, 2019

Team discovers one more piece to the autism puzzle

Vanderbilt investigators have linked genetic mutations in a single receptor to epilepsy, autism and intellectual disability.

By Bill Snyder
September 6, 2017

Heat a trigger for seizures

Elevated body temperature alone can increase vulnerability to fever-induced seizures, even in the absence of infection or inflammation.
By Sanjay Mishra
December 22, 2016

Discovery sheds new light on Angelman, Prader-Willi syndromes

A mutation associated with epilepsy and autism also is responsible for a “pale eye” trait in two rare genetic disorders, Angelman syndrome and Prader-Willi syndrome, neuroscientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported this week.
By Meredith Jackson
November 10, 2016

Protein structure and epilepsy severity

Understanding how mutations affect the structure and function of inhibitory neurotransmitter receptors will shed light on the mechanisms underlying some types of epilepsy.
By VUMC News and Communications
August 13, 2015

Protein ‘clumping’ linked to severe form of genetic epilepsy

Researchers at Vanderbilt University for the first time have demonstrated in a mouse model that aggregation, the “clumping together” of abnormal proteins, can contribute to a severe form of genetic epilepsy.
By Bill Snyder