R. Edward Hogan, MD, a professor of neurology and head of the Adult Epilepsy Section at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been elected second vice president of the American Epilepsy Society. In 2022, he will become the organization’s president.
Hogan’s research interests include neuroimaging in epilepsy. Among other accomplishments, he has used imaging to map blood flow patterns in the brain to identify areas that become more or less active during seizures. As part of this study, he showed that the brainstem – an area near the base of the skull that is involved in basic functions such as heart rate, breathing and consciousness – becomes active during seizures that start in the nearby temporal lobe, which hosts functions such as vision, sensation and language. The involvement of the brainstem might influence people’s level of awareness during seizures.