Manoj Patel

Professor of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, USA

I earned my BSc and Ph.D. in Physiology at the University of Coventry, UK. After completing my Ph.D., I continued my electrophysiology training as a postdoc at the University of Virginia, USA, University of Bristol, UK and finally at the University of Cambridge/Pfizer GRD, UK. I returned to the University of Virginia in 2000 where I began establishing my own independent research laboratory.

Over the past twenty years my laboratory has focused on understanding the role of voltage-gated ion channels, particularly sodium (Na), in the development of epilepsy. Na channels play a critical role in controlling neuronal excitability since they are responsible for establishing firing thresholds and generating the upstroke phase of the action potential. My research has focused on understanding the importance of these ion channels in establishing and facilitating the neuronal hyper-excitability associated with epileptic seizures. More recently, my research has focused on the mechanism by which Nav1.6 gain-of-function and loss-of-function mutations can lead to abnormal Na channel activity and epileptic encephalopathy.