Speakers and Moderators

Denes V. Agoston, MD, PhD

Bethesda, Maryland

Dr. Agoston is a physician-scientist specializing in the pathobiological consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI), including post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE), using biofluid-based protein biomarkers. After earning his MD degree, he taught anatomy, worked as an emergency physician, and volunteered in a biochemistry lab in Hungary. He won a Max Planck Fellowship, moved to Germany, and earned his PhD in neurochemistry at the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen, then established his lab at the NIH before moving to USU.

He combines his medical background with extensive methodological expertise to conduct clinical and translational research on various forms of TBI and its role in developing Alzheimer's Disease and PTSD. He is co-PI on multiple NIH, CDMRP, and DoD funded projects.

Lisa Coles, PhD, MS

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Dr. Coles is an Associate Professor in the Department of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota and the Associate Director of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacometrics at the Center for Orphan Drug Research (CODR). Her research focuses on translational and clinical studies in epilepsy, with a special emphasis on seizure emergencies and post-traumatic epilepsy. Her research interests include the use of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling and simulation to aid in drug discovery, development and clinical care.  She has served as the pharmacology lead on multidisciplinary projects funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense designed to identify biomarkers of post-traumatic epilepsy and evaluate anti-epileptogenic therapies. 

Tobias Engel, PhD

Dublin, Ireland

Our focuses on the study of pathological changes which occur after brain damage and which lead to the development of epileptic seizures. The main focus here is the study of purinergic signaling (with the main emphasis on the ATP-gated P2X7 receptor).

James J Gugger, MD, PharmD

Rochester, New York

Dr. Gugger is an academic neurologist with clinical expertise in epilepsy and traumatic brain injury. His research program is focused on developing quantitative neuroimaging biomarkers in epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and post-traumatic epilepsy.

Pavel Klein

Bethesda, Maryland

Dr. Klein is a co-founder and CEO of PrevEp, Inc., a biotech start up developing treatments to prevent post-traumatic epilepsy, Director of the Mid-Atlantic Epilepsy and Sleep Center in Bethesda, MD and Clinical Professor of Neurology at The George Washington University. Dr Klein obtained BA and MA in neuroscience at the University of Oxford, completed medical studies at the University of Cambridge, UK, neurology residency and epilepsy fellowship at the University of Virginia, and neuroendocrinology and sleep fellowships at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Klein’s clinical research includes prevention of post-traumatic epilepsy, biomarkers of PTE and novel treatments of epilepsy. He lead the only successfully completed Phase 2 study of PTE prevention in the last 25 years and has created an international consortium of level 1 trauma/epilepsy centers active in PTE studies. 

Firas Kobaissy, PhD

Atlanta, Georgia

Dr. Firas H. Kobeissy is a Professor of Neurobiology at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, where he serves as Founding Director of the Center for Neurotrauma, Multiomics & Biomarkers (CNMB) and a Research Health Scientist at the Atlanta VA Medical Center. His research focuses on traumatic brain injury (TBI) and neurotrauma, emphasizing biomarker discovery, multi-omics integration, and translational neurotherapeutics.

Dr. Kobeissy’s work spans molecular and systems-level characterization of brain injury mechanisms, proteomic and metabolomic profiling, and the development of innovative diagnostic platforms, including dried plasma biosampling and lateral flow devices for rapid biomarker testing. He leads and collaborates on multiple NIH, DoD, and VA-funded projects, bridging preclinical models and human clinical studies to advance precision diagnostics and neuroprotective interventions.

Laura Lubbers, PhD

Chicago, Illinois

Dr. Laura Lubbers is Chief Scientific Officer at CURE Epilepsy. She has led large multi-team research initiatives focused on post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) and also co-organized the inaugural International Conference on PTE in Milan, Italy. Importantly, Dr. Lubbers' sister, Ellyn, suffered from intractable epilepsy from an early age, and her mother was diagnosed with epilepsy later in life.  The impact of epilepsy on her family fuels her passion to find better healthcare solutions for people with epilepsy.  Dr. Lubbers holds a Bachelor of Science in Physiology, as well as a Master's and a Doctoral degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana.

Mary Jo Pugh, PhD, RN

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Dr. Mary Jo Pugh, is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Utah and a Research Career Scientist at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System. Her research program focuses on characterizing post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) in military Veterans. She leads major research initiatives, including the Military INjuries-Understanding post-Traumatic Epilepsy (MINUTE) studies, which examine risk factors for PTE and the impact on both individuals with PTE and their caregivers. Her work is critical in defining the risk factors, complex comorbidities, population-level burden, and mortality of PTE in the Veteran community.

Andrea Schneider MD PhD

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Andrea Schneider, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Neurology in the Division of Neurocritical Care with a secondary appointment in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. She received her MD in 2014 from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and received her PhD in Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2012. She completed Neurology Residency and Neurocritical Care Fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2020. She is a neuroepidemiologist who has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications. Her research program focuses on long-term outcomes after traumatic brain injury, with a focus on epilepsy, stroke, and cognitive outcomes. She is currently supported by a NINDS K23 award and is also PI on three Department of Defense grants. She is the recipient of the 2023 Derek Denny-Brown Young Neurological Scholar Award in Clinical Science from the American Neurological Association and the 2023 Rising Star Award from the National Neurotrauma Society.

Amy K. Wagner, MD

Pitttsburgh, Pennsylvania

Dr. Amy K. Wagner is a leading investigator in the use of biomarkers developing prognostic models and clinical decision algorithms as well as optimizing individualized treatment outcomes, in an effort to “personalized rehabilitation medicine," for populations with traumatic brain injury. Her research also focuses on how biomarkers representing the neurobiology of injury and recovery after TBI inform secondary disease/condition development, including post-traumatic epilepsy, and subsequent impacts on function.  She has recently published on prognostic model development for predicting likelihood of PTE and on PTE effects on multidimensional outcome in a population with moderate to severe TBI.

Elisa R. Zanier, MD

Milan, Italy

Director, Department of Acute Brain and Cardiovascular Injury

Dr. Elisa R. Zanier is a leading clinician-scientist in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and neuroprotection. Trained in Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Milan, she combines clinical expertise with translational research at the Mario Negri Institute. Her work focuses on the mechanisms, biomarkers, and treatment of TBI and post-traumatic epilepsy. She co-leads international projects funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and CURE Epilepsy and chaired the NIH-supported 2024 International Conference on Post-Traumatic Epilepsy in Milan.

Chris Dulla, PhD

Boston, Massachussetts

The principal goal of my research is to understand how neurotransmission contributes to the function of neuronal networks. Neurotransmission is the most basic unit of neuronal communication. Disruption of the basic features of neurotransmission is associated with many neurological diseases. My lab aims to understand how specific properties of synaptic function contribute to network activity, and how changes in neurotransmission are involved in the pathology of disease states such as epilepsy and traumatic brain injury. We are specifically interested in astrocyte glutamate uptake, astrocyte/neuron interactions, GABAergic interneuron development, and metabolic control of neuronal activity. Using advanced neurotransmitter imaging, electrophysiological techniques, and more, my lab aims to answer questions about how neuronal network function is shaped by some of the most basic parameters of neurotransmission. We hope to contribute new understanding and novel therapies to treat epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and other devastating neurological diseases.