Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery Conference 2026

This research meeting is held in collaboration with the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Consortium (PERC) through its Surgery, Neuromodulation, and Neuropsychology Special Interest Groups and is not part of the family conference. Attendance is by invitation only. 

The main goal of this meeting is to address the effects of epilepsy surgeries that are not intended or expected to result in seizure freedom, on daily function and quality of life. We will use parent stories to frame priorities, choose one retrospective multicenter study that is practical for PERC sites, and agree on a small set of functional outcome assessments that retrospective chart review can support. The study should be able to answer questions families actually ask (“Will my child think more clearly? Will school be easier? Will we be in the hospital less?”) and produce plain language summaries clinics can use in real‑world counseling.

A secondary goal of the meeting is to propose that our organizations retire the ‘palliative’ label in the epilepsy surgery context and instead describe these procedures using a patient‑centered framework. Specifically, we will recommend language that presents corpus callosotomy,  VNS, RNS, DBS, and non-curative resections and LITT as treatments that change the course of epilepsy and have the potential to make seizures less harmful over time, rather than as ‘palliative’ surgeries. This policy recommendation would guide how clinicians talk with families, how pathways are described in guidelines, and how future research characterizes surgeries not intended to result in seizure freedom.

The meeting will focus on family experience and functional outcomes when seizures continue, and design one retrospective multi-center study that quantifies functional benefits and seizure outcomes classifications. Outputs will include a small, shared set of functional outcome assessments that charts can support.

This work advances the NIH’s Epilepsy Research Benchmarks – Area IV: IV.A: Understand and limit the impact of epilepsy on non‑seizure outcomes such as neurodevelopment, mental health, cognition, health‑related quality of life, and other functions; IV.B: Understand and limit the impact of anti‑seizure treatments (medical, surgical, neuromodulation) on those same non‑seizure outcomes.

Researchers from the Bowers Lab at Harvard University would like to learn more about how people with visual field loss use their vision to notice potential hazards in real world situations such as walking or driving.
The study involves playing a simple video game which simulates driving, shown on a computer screen. Participants will use a steering wheel to steer their virtual car while watching out for pedestrian hazards. Participants will be asked to respond whenever they see a pedestrian about to cross the road. There will be plenty of time to get used to the video game and to practice steering and responding to pedestrians.

Researchers are recruiting people with a history of hemispherectomy, hemispherotomy, temporal-pariental-occipital disconnection or resection, or total occipital lobectomy, who are at least 14 years of age.

Study participation involves:

• One session, about 1.5 hours
• Vision measures
• Video game simulating driving (presented on a computer screen)
• Brief questionnaire

Inclusion criteria:

• Visual field loss (such as hemianopia)
• 14 years or older
• Able to control a steering wheel with either one or both hands
• Able to concentrate for at least 10 minutes without a break
• Sufficient stamina to participate in a study session lasting about 1.5 hours with breaks
• Either some experience of driving or no experience of driving

Participants will receive $50 for study participation.

To sign up to be considered for this study, complete our Research Interest Form here.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh's Behrmann Lab would like to understand

how children and adults who have had a large cortical resection to one hemisphere of the brain

during childhood process visual, auditory and language functions that usually require two full

hemispheres.

A full description of this research is here. 

Welcome!

When you arrive at the designated location, please proceed to the check-in area where you will be able to collect your event materials, including your badge which serves as your official identification for the duration of the event. It is essential that you have your badge on your person at all times to ensure smooth access to all areas and activities.

Check in to your hotel and then go wild at the Kalahari Resort! 

🏝️ Outdoor Water Park (open until 7 pm)
💦 Indoor Water Park (open until 9 pm)
🍔 Restaurants
🛍️ Shopping
👾 Tom Foolery Arcade and Adventure Park 🎢
📋 Full list of things to do at the Kalahari Resort

Please note: Indoor and outdoor water park access is included only with a Kalahari room reservation, not with conference tickets. Arcade games and rides are an additional cost and are also not included with conference tickets.