 I'm Jennifer Hoppe. I'm associate professor in the department of neurology at University of Maryland School of Medicine. I also run the epilepsy division at the University of Maryland Medical Center. The first thing that I always really talk about with a patient when I meet them is really what their goal is. So our goal as a kind of a shared team is always essentially no seizures, no side effects. It's often a mantra that we use in talking with patients. So really what that means is having seizure control but really having good quality of life. There's ways of controlling seizures but it may lead to side effects or problems that a patient may experience that then impacts their quality of life and their day-to-day activities. So really the first thing though is understanding what a patient's goals are and then sharing those goals together to really control their seizures well. University of Maryland is considered a level four national association of epilepsy center. We have infrastructure that allows us to provide hopefully the highest most comprehensive care for patients with epilepsy. We have a dedicated epilepsy monitoring unit where patients can either come in electively or sometimes emergently to have their seizures studied. We have an entire EEG and clinical neurophysiology lab where other testing can be done and then certainly our outpatient center where the rest of our care takes place. We have all of these components but also have all of the staff and faculty to take care of patients. So that involves the entire team whether it's the epilepsy surgeon, the neuropsychologist or the other team members. That infrastructure allows us to provide the most comprehensive care. And then finally there are certain components of that specialization that do set Maryland apart. So for example being able to provide epilepsy surgery to patients with some of the most stubborn seizures is really unique here. I really enjoy being able to treat patients of all ages. So I see patients with epilepsy of ages from about 12 to 90. So really following them through their lifespan and being able to assist them not only with management of seizures but of other things that they may encounter. So for example issues with having restrictions on driving as a teenager or going through pregnancy which many of my female patients do. And then through the issues of dealing with jobs and their seizures as well. I think the evolution of our treatments has just been one of the most exciting things not only for us as physicians but for our patients as well. So for example when I first started training we had medications to treat seizures but not really much else. As I completed my residency training here we had one of the first devices of vagus nerve stimulator which we could implant to treat seizures. And we had surgery as well. Surgical resection of areas of the brain that created seizures in patients with intractable or stubborn to treat epilepsy. But really over the past 10 years or so there's been an explosion whether it's in the understanding of genetic causes of different epilepsies and syndromes or of other treatments. So for example here at University of Maryland we offer a device that's a relatively new treatment called responsive neurostimulation. So it's a very exciting new way of treating seizures using a device that actually detects seizures in a patient and then is individualized in terms of the electrical treatment and stimulation of the brain to help control the seizures for that particular person. Our team actually is involved in many areas of research across different fields of epilepsy. My personal interests involve clinical trials of either different medications or treatments. One of my other areas of clinical research is in the overlap of mood disorders in epilepsy. So we know that almost a third to a half of people who have seizures have increased rates of depression and anxiety. So I'm very interested in why that occurs, how to detect it and then of course how to potentially treat that better during their lifespan. So there's always really something new going on here and we like to really stay on the forefront of new treatments as well as new detections for patients with epilepsy. You know one of the most challenging things about my job is that most of the people who come here to seek care for their epilepsy often have been to many different physicians before. So it really can be quite challenging and very quite frustrating for them. Understandably they've been through many treatments before, have seen many physicians and so one of the things that I really enjoy the most is really spending time with them. Really having the opportunity to sit down, understand what their goals are, understand what else is going on in their life so that not only can we be effective in developing a treatment plan but really getting to know them a little bit more. One of the things that I think is really important has been part of the vision that I have for our group in epilepsy here at Maryland is really treating the whole person. That may involve really taking the time to just get to know someone but also is important on a clinical basis. So for example we take very seriously the components of the evaluation that have to do with screening of mood and depression, discussion of driving in these patients or what their opportunities are for getting involved with that and certainly also what their goals are for their life and control of their seizures as well. So our comprehensive approach is really what's exciting to me but what's important in terms of care of the whole person.