Education

2023 Research Network Month: Dr. Soon-Tae Lee ~ 2021 AEA Community Seed Grant ~ Research Update May 9, 2023

Dr. Soon-Tae Lee received an AEA Community Seed Grant in 2021. Today, in honor of Research Network Month, he provides an update on his research with seronegative autoimmune encephalitis: clinical characteristics and courses, the effect of immunotherapy and its duration, and prognostic factors. The AEA Community Seed Grant program is funded by donations from the […]

2023 Research Network Month: Dr. Amaia Muñoz-Lopetegi ~ 2021 AEA Community Seed Grant Recipient ~ Research Update May 15, 2023

Dr. Amaia Muñoz-Lopetegi received an AEA Community Seed Grant in 2021. Today, in honor of Research Network Month, she provides an update on her research with anti-LGI1 encephalitis: diagnostic tests and prognostic implications. The AEA Community Seed Grant program is funded by donations from the AEA Support Network community & friends. Awarded applications must meet […]

Clinical Approach To The Diagnosis Of Autoimmune Encephalitis In The Pediatric Patient June 20, 2023

We were recently asked to post and comment on the proposed pediatric autoimmune encephalitis (AE) classification criteria published in 2020. The pediatric criteria followed much of the framework of the adult criteria, but highlighted important difference between pediatric and adult presentations. In addition, the pediatric criteria started from the point of the initial assessment, with […]

Susannah Cahalan and Dr. Najjar discuss AE August 14, 2014

Susannah Cahalan and Dr. Souhel Najjar NY Times best selling author and AE survivor Susannah Cahalan reads from Brain on Fire and has a conversation with the doctor who saved her life, Dr. Souhel Najjar. The Autoimmune Encephalitis Alliance hosted a series of Autoimmune Encephalitis awareness events at Duke University Medical Center, March 26 and 27, 2014.  International experts […]

Autoimmune Encephalitis Alliance co-sponsors pediatric AE treatment consensus meeting December 5, 2016

The Autoimmune Encephalitis Alliance, along with Children’s National Health System, and the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance, co-sponsored the first International Pediatric Autoimmune Encephalitis Treatment Consensus Meeting at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC, on November 14. “The AE Alliance was honored to help bring many of the world’s leading experts […]

New pediatric center in Arizona targets autoimmune disorders September 23, 2016

The following was reported by Stephanie Innes at the Arizona Daily Star. The opening of the new Children’s Postinfectious Autoimmune Encephalopathy Center in Tucson marks a new era of pediatric research for the University of Arizona, UA president Ann Weaver Hart said Tuesday during an opening event held at Banner-University Medical Center Tucson. The disorders hit […]

Jill Littrell, Ph.D. explores neuroscience and physiological explanations behind diagnostic categories of mental illness July 20, 2016

Jill Littrell’s new book, Neuroscience for Psychologists and Other Mental Health Professionals: Promoting Well-Being and Treating Mental Illness, presents the latest neuroscience and physiological explanations behind the major diagnostic categories of mental illness—including schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and addiction—and explains the physiological bases that underlie traditional pharmaceutical treatment interventions.  Of particular note in the book is cutting-edge information […]

Diagnostic Criteria for AE Released June 23, 2016

A newly released precis provides clear diagnostic criteria for autoimmune encephalitis. This effort, lead by Dr. Domingo Escudero, Dr. Francesc Graus and Dr. Josep Dalmau, summarizes the Lancet Neurology article “A clinical approach to autoimmune encephalitis“. The Lancet Neurology article  provides the first broadly accepted criteria for diagnosing autoimmune encephalitis.  A previous AE Alliance blog reviewed the article and it’s connection to the first International […]

Luncheon for patients with autoimmune encephalitis and their families draws 150 people from U.S. and Canada March 24, 2016

Over 150 patients and family members affected by autoimmune encephalitis gathered in Durham, NC, for a luncheon on March 5. Known simply as the “Family Lunch” the event is a chance to meet others affected by autoimmune encephalitis, laugh, celebrate, remember those lost to the disease, and share stories both privately and publicly. Having grown in […]

AE Families Come Together January 27, 2016

If you are reading this you already know that autoimmune encephalitis can be an isolating experience. That’s one reason the Autoimmune Encephalitis Alliance organizes and hosts the AE Family Lunch in association with the Florence Forth run-walk in Durham, NC. This year the AE Family Lunch will take place on March 5, 2016. All AE patients and families […]