EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE:
Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019
5:30 p.m. EST
BALTIMORE - Barbara C. Jobst, M.D., Ph.D., was honored with the J. Kiffin Penry Award for
Excellence in Epilepsy Care at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society (AES), a
medical and scientific society whose members are dedicated to advancing research and
education for preventing, treating and curing epilepsy.
Dr. Jobst is currently the Louis and Ruth Frank professor of neurosciences at the Geisel School
of Medicine at Dartmouth, vice-chair of Neurology at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and
co-director of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Epilepsy Center. Dr. Jobst is a clinician-investigator
who applies basic research to the benefit of patients and has trained many students,
residents, fellows and junior faculty in the care of epilepsy patients.
Her initial work in the description of epilepsy characteristics, such as frontal lobe epilepsy
and work in the prognosis after epilepsy surgery, led her to a scientific interest in intracranial
neurophysiology and brain stimulation. She and her team have participated in multiple
multicenter trials involving brain stimulation. Following intractable epilepsy patients for
prolonged periods, she observed that the cognitive and psychiatric consequences of epilepsy
are as disabling as the seizures.
She now studies the interaction of cognition and neurophysiology. Her work has included
improving cognition with invasive brain stimulation as well as developing and implementing a
cognitive-behavioral program for memory problems in epilepsy (HOBSCOTCH). She has
coordinated the Managing Epilepsy Well network, one of the thematic research networks of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which aims to improve the quality of
life of patients with epilepsy through self-management.
Dr. Jobst is well-published in her field and a sought-after national and international speaker.
She is on the editorial board of Neurology and Epilepsia, active in multiple professional
societies and has additional leadership training as a graduate of the Executive Leadership in
Academic Medicine program. She completed her medical training at the Friedrich-Alexander
Universität in Erlangen and the Krankenhaus der Barmherzigen Brüder in Regensburg,
Germany.
This award, supported by the AES J. Kiffin Penry Fund, was established in 1997 in honor of Dr.
Penry’s lifelong focus on and genuine concern for the patient with epilepsy. It recognizes
individuals whose work has had a major impact on patient care and improved the quality of
life for persons with epilepsy. The award includes a $3,000 honorarium.