BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Dr. Abou-Khalil earned both his B.S. and his medical degree (1978) at the American University of Beirut in Beirut, Lebanon. He completed an internship and one year of residency in Internal Medicine at the American University Medical Center in Beirut. He began a Neurology residency at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, NY, which he completed at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, MI, from 1980-82. He completed a fellowship in EEG and Epilepsy at the University of Michigan Medical Center from 1983-85, and then was a post-doctoral fellow in Clinical Neurophysiology at the Montreal Neurologic Institute in Montreal, Quebec from April to September 1986.

Dr. Abou-Khalil maintains licensure in both Michigan and Tennessee, and is board certified in both Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology. He is founder and Director of the Vanderbilt Epilepsy Laboratory and Clinical Epilepsy Program, and Director of the Vanderbilt Clinical Neurophysiology Training Program, which was accredited by ACGME in 1996. Since 1990, he has served as chairman of the Professional Advisory Board of the Epilepsy Foundation of Middle Tennessee, and he is a long-standing member of the Epilepsy Advisory Committee of the Tennessee Department of Health. Dr. Abou-Khalil is a member of the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Neurology (Epilepsy Section), the American Epilepsy Society, and a fellow of the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society.

RESEARCH SUMMARY

My research interests are predominantly in the area of clinical epilepsy, including epilepsy surgery, development of new therapies for epilepsy, and clinical epilepsy genetics.

With respect to epilepsy surgery, I am interested in the analysis of seizure signs and their localizing and lateralizing significance, the localization of language and memory functions in the brain before surgery, and the use of new imaging methods, such as functional MRI, to help localize the epileptogenic zone and brain functions to be preserved during surgery. I am the Vanderbilt Principal Investigator in the multi-center NIH-sponsored Early Randomized Surgical Epilepsy Trial. This active trial will compare surgical and medical treatment for patients with temporal lobe epilepsy whose seizures have been refractory for less than 2 years.

I have conducted numerous trials of experimental and new antiepileptic drugs in various forms of epilepsy. Drugs being investigated include SPM 927 and pregabalin for refractory partial seizures, levetiracetam for generalized myoclonic seizures, and levetiracetam for catamenial epilepsy.

Currently, I am conducting investigations into the clinical genetics of epilepsy in collaboration with researchers in the Department of Neurology, the Program in Human Genetics, and the Division of Genetic Medicine. All families with four or more affected individuals are of interest. My particular interest is in the genetic basis of epilepsy preceded by febrile convulsions.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Peer reviewed articles:

Morgan VL, Price RR, Arain A, Modur P, Abou-Khalil B. Resting Functional MRI with Temporal Clustering Analysis for Localization of Epileptic Activity without EEG. Neuroimage, in press.

Hedera P, Abou-Khalil, B, Crunk AE, Taylor KA, Haines JL, Sutcliffe JS. Autosomal dominant lateral temporal epilepsy: two families with novel mutations in the LGI1 gene. Epilepsia, in press.

Nei M, Ho RT, Abou-Khalil BW, Drislane FW, Liporace J, Romeo A, Sperling MR. EEG and EKG in sudden unexplained death in epilepsy. Epilepsia, in press

Krauss GL, Betts T, Abou-Khalil B, Bergey G, Miller A. Levetiracetam treatment for idiopathic generalized epilepsy. Seizure 2003;12:617-620.

Abou-Khalil B, Hemdal P, Privitera MD. An open-label study of levetiracetam at individualised doses between 1000 and 3000 mg day in adult patients with refractory epilepsy. Seizure 2003;12:141-9.

Abou-Khalil B, Ge Q, Desai R, Ryther R, Bazyk A, Bailey R, Haines JL, Sutcliffe JS, George AL. Partial Epilepsy and Generalized Epilepsy with Febrile Seizures Plus and a Novel SCN1A Mutation. Neurology, 2001;57:2265-2272.

Arain A, Abou-Khalil B, Moses H. Hashimoto's encephalopathy: documentation of mesial temporal seizure origin by ictal EEG. Seizure, 2001;10:438-41.

Shihabuddin B, Abou-Khalil B, Delbeke D, Fakhoury F. Orbitofrontal epilepsy masquerading as temporal lobe epilepsy- a case report. Seizure, 2001;10:134-8.

Thirumalai S, Abou-Khalil B, Fakhoury T, Suresh G. Video-EEG in the diagnosis of paroxysmal events in children with mental retardation and in children with normal intelligence. Dev Med Child Neurol 2001;43:731-4.

Millan E, Abou-Khalil B, Delbeke D, Konrad P. Frontal localization of absence seizures demonstrated by ictal positron emission tomography. Epilepsy and Behavior, 2001;2:54-60.

Gilliam F, Steinhoff BJ, Bitterman HJ, Kuzniecky R, Faught E, Abou-Khalil B. Adult myoclonic epilepsy: A distinct syndrome of idiopathic generalized epilepsy. Neurology 2000 55:1030-1033.

Cereghino JJ, Biton V, Abou-Khalil B, Gauer LJ, Leppik I. Levetiracetam for partial seizures: results of a double-blind, randomized clinical trial. Neurology 2000;55:236-42.

Mayville C, Fakhoury T, Abou-Khalil B. Absence seizures with evolution into generalized tonic-clonic activity: clinical and EEG features. Epilepsia 2000;41:391-394.

Abou-Khalil B, Andermann E, Andermann F, Olivier A, Quesney LF: Temporal Lobe Epilepsy with Antecedent Prolonged Febrile Convulsions: Excellent Outcome Following Surgical Treatment. Epilepsia 1993;34:878-883.

Laowattana S, Abou-Khalil B, Fakhoury T, Ashmead D. Antiepileptic drug withdrawal and reinstitution prolongs the interval to the next seizure in patients with intractable epilepsy. Neurology 1999;53:1736-41.

Niaz FE, Abou-Khalil B, Fakhoury T. The generalized tonic clonic seizure in partial versus generalized epilepsy: semiologic differences. Epilepsia 1999;40:1664-6.

Shihabuddin B, Abou-Khalil B, Fakhoury T. The value of combined ambulatory cassette-EEG and video monitoring in the differential diagnosis of intractable seizures. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology 1999;110:1452-7.

Fakhoury T, Abou-Khalil B. Generalized absence seizures with 10-15 Hz fast discharges. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology 1999;110:1029-35.

Hughes TS, Abou-Khalil B, Lavin PJM, Fakhoury T, Blumenkopf B, Donahue SP. Visual field defects after temporal lobe resection: a prospective quantitative analysis. Neurology 1999;53:167-72.

Hamati-Haddad A, Abou-Khalil B. Epilepsy diagnosis and localization in patients with antecedent childhood febrile convulsions. Neurology 1998;50:917-921.

Abou-Khalil B, Fakhoury T. Significance of head turn sequences in temporal lobe onset seizures. Epilepsy Research, 1996:23:245-250.

Fakhoury T, Abou-Khalil B. Association of ipsilateral head turning and dystonia in temporal lobe seizures. Epilepsia 1995;36:1065-1070.

Abou-Khalil B, Fakhoury T, Jennings M, Moots P, Warner J, Kessler R. Inhibitory motor seizures: correlation with centroparietal structural and functional abnormalities. Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, 1995;91:103-108.

Abou-Khalil B, Welch L, Blumenkopf B, Newman N, Whetsell WO. Global aphasia with seizure onset in the dominant basal temporal region. Epilepsia, 1994;35:1079-1084.

Abou-Khalil B, Andermann E, Andermann F, Olivier A, Quesney LF: Temporal Lobe Epilepsy with Antecedent Prolonged Febrile Convulsions: Excellent Outcome Following Surgical Treatment. Epilepsia 1993;34:878-883.

Abou-Khalil BW, Siegel GJ, Sackellares JC, Gilman S, Hichwa R, Marshall R: Positron Emission Tomography Studies of Cerebral Glucose Metabolism in Patients with Chronic Partial Epilepsy. Ann Neurol 1987;22:480-486.

Book chapters:

Abou-Khalil B. Seizures and epilepsy in adolescents and adults. In Rakel RE (ed) Conn’s Current Therapy, W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia, 2000, pp 856-866.

Abou-Khalil B. Insights into language mechanisms derived from the evaluation of epilepsy. In Kirshner HS (ed) Handbook of Neurological Speech and Language Disorders, Marcel Dekker, New York, 1995:213-275.

Henry T, Chugani H, Abou-Khalil B, Theodore W, Swartz B: Positron Emission
Tomography in Presurgical Evaluation of Epilepsy, in Engel J (ed) Surgical Treatment of
the Epilepsies, 2nd edition, Raven Press, New York, 1993.

Sackellares JC, Abou-Khalil BW: The Value of PET, in Smith D (ed) Epilepsy: Current
Approaches to Diagnosis and Treatment, Raven Press, New York, 1990.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Bassel Abou-Khalil, M.D.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
1161 21st Avenue South
A-0118 Medical Center North
Nashville, Tennessee 37232
Tel: 615-936-2591