First Vice President
Frances E. Jensen, M.D.
Named First Vice President of American Epilepsy Society
San Antonio, December 6, 2010 – Frances E. Jensen, M.D., a neuroscientist and professor of neurology at Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School, was elected first vice president of the American Epilepsy Society (AES) over the weekend during the organization’s 64th annual meeting at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center. The appointment is effective immediately.
AES is the 3,000 member society of physicians, scientists and allied healthcare professionals dedicated to the prevention, treatment, and cure of epilepsy. .
Dr. Jensen is a practicing physician in neurology at both Children’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is a former chair of the Society for Neuroscience program committee and serves on the organization’s Governing Council. She has a long record of AES service as past chair of the Annual Meeting Committee, Merritt Putnam Symposium, Council on Education, and co-chair of the Advocacy Committee, and currently chairs the AES Conflict of Interest Committee.
Dr. Jensen’s laboratory is focused on devising age-specific therapeutic strategies to prevent brain injury in preterm and full term infants. She has identified unique mechanisms involved in seizure activity and injury in the developing brain, leading to new candidate therapies now in development for clinical trials in newborns. Her work also explores how seizures alter neuronal networks resulting in learning deficits, neuropsychiatric symptoms and autism.
Dr. Jensen is the recipient of the 2008 American Epilepsy Society Basic Research Recognition Award and the 2007 NIH Director’s Pioneer Award. She is an author of more than 100 research papers, serves as an ad hoc reviewer for several professional journals and as a member of the editorial board for Annals of Neurology.
Besides membership on the AES board of directors, Dr. Jensen is active with Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE), the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance, and the Epilepsy Therapy Development Project.
Epilepsy affects 50 million people worldwide, including three million in the United States. The disorder may have a single specific, well-defined cause, such as a head injury, or manifest as one of more than 40 syndromes having a complex of signs and symptoms.
About The American Epilepsy Society
The American Epilepsy Society (AES), based in West Hartford, CT, is among the oldest neurological professional organizations in the nation, with roots dating to 1898. The AES annual meeting is the world’s preeminent professional meeting on epilepsy and attracts some 4,000 participants from around the globe. The Society promotes research and education for professionals (epileptologists) who study and treat the disorder.
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Information contact:
Peter Van Haverbeke
AES Media Relations
703-927-9639