ILAE British Young Epilepsy Section (YES)

Eva Ioannidou – Chair

I am a doctoral clinical research fellow in Paediatric Neurology in the Developmental Neurosciences Department at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health. I have been awarded a Research Training Fellowship from Action Medical Research and the British Paediatric Neurology Association to study the immunopathogenesis and molecular mechanisms of Rasmussen encephalitis and related inflammatory epilepsies. As a Chair of the ILAE British Branch YES Board I am motivated
to build an active and inclusive British YES that connects and empowers early-career clinicians and researchers in the field of epilepsy.

Mathilde Ripart – Vice-Chair

I am a Research Associate at King’s College London and the lead developer on the Multicentre Epilepsy Lesion Detection (MELD) project, an international collaboration dedicated to improving the detection of lesions in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. My research focuses on developing open-source, interpretable AI tools to detect epilepsy lesions from MRI scans.

As the newly appointed Vice-Chair of the YES British Branch, I will work closely with the Chair to support their mission. Moreover, drawing on my technical expertise and collaborative experience, I aim to support scientists and clinicians to build connections and work collaboratively towards clinical translation of research discoveries.

Lucrezia Piccicacchi – Secretary

I am a Genetics graduate and a final‑year medical student at the University of Aberdeen with a strong interest in genotype–phenotype correlations in genetic epilepsies. I recently completed a two‑month medical elective at the Danish Epilepsy Centre, where I focused on cardiac and epilepsy phenotypes in sodium channelopathies.

I am also actively involved in epilepsy advocacy through my work with the ILAE YES Advocacy Task Force. As the newly appointed Secretary of the YES British Branch, I aim to foster meaningful collaboration among a wide range of healthcare and research professionals involved in epilepsy and to ensure that these connections extend across all regions of the UK.

Jacqueline Nonweiler – Events and Communications

I am a postdoctoral researcher and research coordinator on the Brain Development in Early Epilepsy (BEE) study in the Department of Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London. My experience researching epilepsy is primarily in genetic epilepsies and associated co-occurring neurodevelopmental diagnoses such as autism. As Events Organiser for the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Young Epilepsy Section (YES), I am motivated to help build an active and collaborative community that connects and empowers early-career clinicians and researchers working in epilepsy and related fields.