Katherine D. Holland, MD, PhD

One out of three people with epilepsy have uncontrollable seizures because no therapy has been successful for them. Additionally, the cause is unknown in six out of ten people with epilepsy. As such, researchers need to continue investigating the causes of epilepsy and developing potential treatments.

The research areas I’m interested in include mechanisms of epileptogenesis, epilepsy and ion channels studies. The primary issue my colleagues and I are attempting to solve in our research laboratory is genetic modifiers of epilepsy severity. By understanding modifiers of epilepsy severity, I hope to identify new approaches to therapy.

I've been practicing for more than 20 years. My patient care specialties involve epilepsy and neurophysiology in the pediatrics sector. My family inspired me to become a healthcare provider. All of my parents (mother, father, stepmother and stepfather) researched and worked in the brain sciences field. Much of their work was clinical.

It was ice cream that drew me to pediatrics and treating children. When I was a medical student, a neurologist asked me whether I preferred ice cream or pizza. When I answered ice cream, I was told that this was the mark of a pediatric neurologist.

My research studies have been published in numerous respected journals, such as The New England Journal of Medicine, Neurobiology of Disease, Epilepsy and Behavior, Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics and the Journal of Child Neurology.