For two days, experienced, as well as young academics and the representatives of patient organizations, exchanged views on existing initiatives and the improvement of research in the field of Childhood Epilepsy and Movement Disorders.
Rare neurologic disorders in pediatrics often go unrecognized, resulting in protracted delays in diagnosis and limited treatment options. Even when detected early, treatment remains mostly empiric, due in part to limitations in clinical trial design and implementation: several of these disorders with similar clinical manifestations are caused by a variety of affected genes, while therapy in one group of patients may not be applicable to all individuals with the same genetic defect. The main objective of this networking event was to bring together clinicians and scientists from different EU countries and other countries who are intensively involved in clinical research and/or basic research in the field of epilepsy and movement disorders. The event explored the possibility of new treatment approaches in light of recent developments in the field. Researchers were given the opportunity to establish new collaborations, discuss the development of precision medicine hypotheses, and conduct treatment trials to reach more patients across Europe.