8th International Summer School for Neuropathology and Epilepsy Surgery

The participants of the 8th International Summer School for Neuropathology and Epilepsy Surgery (INES) 2018. (Image: Prof. Ingmar Blümcke)
The participants of the 8th International Summer School for Neuropathology and Epilepsy Surgery (INES) 2018. (Image: Prof. Ingmar Blümcke)

Scientists from 24 countries are preparing to fight epilepsy in Erlangen

The 8th International Summer School for Neuropathology and Epilepsy Surgery is a standard fixture in the training offered by the International League against Epilepsy and has been organised several times by the Institute of Neuropathology in Erlangen.

53 participants from 24 countries registered for the summer school in Erlangen from 26 to 29 July 2018. Six neuropathologists and another eight experts from the extended field of epileptology offered lectures, hands-on training in small groups and the opportunity to discuss cases concerning patients with chronic focal epilepsy who do not respond to medication and have to undergo brain surgery. According to Prof. Dr. med. Ingmar Blümcke, Director of Neuropathology at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen and the initiator and head of the summer school, ‘many colleagues specialising in pathology and neuropathology can find it rather challenging to examine brain tissue removed during surgery histologically (under the microscope) and determine the cause of the disease.’

The summer school was established in Erlangen in 2013 and more than 350 participants in Germany, Brazil, USA and China have since taken advantage of all it has to offer. ‘This is the third time that we have met in Erlangen,’ explains Prof. Dr. Blümcke. ‘Once again, we have a top class programme and team of tutors. Places went very quickly. It offers a unique opportunity to inspect tissue samples under the microscope and discuss them with epileptologists and neurosurgeons that is not offered anywhere else in the world. In September we are running the summer school for the second time in China, from 17 to 20 September in Peking.’

The Department of Neuropathology in Erlangen is a world leader in this area, and published the largest study of nearly 10,000 epilepsy patients who have undergone surgery in the renowned journal ‘The New England Journal of Medicine’ in October 2017.

Contact:

Prof. Dr. med. Ingmar Blümcke
Tel.: 000499131 85-26031
ingmar.bluemcke@uk-erlangen.de