The Power of Purple Webinar Series – Epilepsy Surgery and Other Treatment Options

The Power of Purple Webinar Series for Epilepsy is a series of free educational webinars about important topics related to epilepsy. These webinars will be hosted on Zoom and feature neurologists, industry experts, and people living with epilepsy who will be sharing their lived experiences.

Don’t miss our first webinar on March 5th on Epilepsy Surgery and Treatment Options with special guests, Dr. Taufik Valiante, Jordan Shuler & Gary Collins. Click HERE to get your free ticket today.

About the Speakers:

Jordan Shuler had been experiencing infrequent absent seizures since university days (1992). In 2011, his seizures started to increase in number, duration, and strength. He was experiencing seizures while teaching in the classroom, while driving, while playing sports.  He was diagnosed in 2012 with a temporal cavernoma (constriction of the arteries in the brain, upsetting blood and electrical flow) and began attending Professionals Support Group at Epilepsy Toronto to gain knowledge and support. He went through surgery in 2014 to remove partial temporal lobe and full hippocampus, both on the right side.  He was bed-ridden and in a wheelchair for two months during recovery. Now, he is stronger than before…playing sports, driving and fully functioning! He has not had a single seizure since surgery.
Jordan was a professor in Hospitality at George Brown College for nine years. Recently, he was hired full-time at UHN as their new Digital Education Specialist.

Dr. Taufik Valiante is currently the Director of the Surgical Epilepsy Program at the Krembil Neuroscience Center, a Scientist at the Krembil Research Institute, and has a cross-appointment at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering as well as Electrical and Computer Engineering. His neurosurgical staff appointment is at the Toronto Western Hospital, and he is currently Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Toronto. He is the co-Founder and Co-Director of CFI funded CRANIA (Center for Advancing Neurotechnological Innovation to Application). In 2007 he established a state of the art five-bed Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at the Toronto Western Hospital, significantly increasing surgical services to those with medically refractory epilepsy throughout the Province of Ontario.

Gary Collins was suddenly diagnosed with epilepsy in 1985. He was one of the fortunate 70% whose seizures were mostly controlled through medication. However, the cumulative side-effects of his meds had a major impact on his lifestyle and the side-effects were becoming debilitating. In 2018, he was most fortunate to work with a Neurologist who recommended a change in his medication. In the space of two months, I was given his life back, with ZERO side-effects!

Gary is the President of Epilepsy Canada.

About the Moderator

W. McIntyre Burnham received his B.A. in Experimental Psychology from Cornell University and his Ph.D. in Physiological Psychology from McGill University. Following post-doctoral studies in electrophysiology with Pierre Gloor at the Montreal Neurological Institute, he joined the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Toronto, where he is currently a Professor Emeritus. His research career has centered on epilepsy and anticonvulsant drugs. He was the first recipient of the Bahen Chair of Epilepsy Research, and is currently the Director of the University of Toronto Epilepsy Research Program. He is also a Co-Director of EpLink, and a Past President of Epilepsy Ontario and of Epilepsy Canada.Special Thanks to the Ontario Brain Institute for their support of this Webinar Series