Stories
Stories at the e-Lab, from academic events to discoveries and press coverage of our work.

December 2024 – Xmas party and Prizes
Greg’s translational work received the Prize for the best basic research from the Department of Neurology at Inselspital, and the Prize for the best human and clinical research from the Swiss Society of Neuroscience.


July 2024 – Hike at Oeschinensee
The e-Lab took a day off to hike in the beautiful sceneries of Oeschinensee. This alpine jewel is only an hour away from Bern. After hiking above the lake to the glacier of Blümlisalp, we refreshed ourselves by swimming in the cold waters of the lake. Top picture from left to right: Ellen Van Maren, Maxime Baud, Enrique Perez, Kristina Slabeva, Camille Mignardot, Victor Ziegler, Shani Folschweiller, Cécilia Friedrichs-Maeder.


June 2024 – PhD defense of Ellen Van Maren
Public PhD defense by Dr. Ellen Van Maren, after 4.5 years of hard work on the signaling dynamics of cortical connections in the human brain. Ellen started the e-Lab’s work on effective connectivity from scratch, and was able to measure signaling dynamics in terms of excitability and directionality, pioneering the study of actual signal transmissions measured directly in the human brain.

April 2024 – NeuroPixels recordings
Shani Folschweiller started with NeuroPixels recordings to characterize the neuronal dynamics of seizures triggered by optogenetics. Here, she is recording some neuronal spikes that are delivering many secrets.

February 2024 – PhD defense of Kristina Slabeva
Public PhD defense by Dr. Kristina Slabeva, after 5 years of hard work on the circadian timing of seizures in the kainate model of temporal lobe epilepsy.

September 2023 – ILAE conference
Convening of the e-Lab in its original formation to the conference of the International League against Epilepsy in Dublin, Ireland, where we gave a symposium on the chronobiology of epilepsy. From left to right: Kristina Slabeva, Ellen Van Maren, Maxime Baud, Grégory Lepeu.



February 2023 – PhD defense of Grégory Lepeu
Public PhD defense by Dr. Grégory Lepeu, after 4.5 years of hard work on the critical dynamics of seizure onset in hippocampal circuits. Greg’s optogenetics model of seizures on demand helped us precisely map the border between physiological oscillations and pathological discharges. His work showed that probing hippocampal circuits with minute optogenetic pulses helped assess the underlying excitability and seizure threshold. On this occasion, we had the pleasure of welcoming Prof. Premysl Jiruska to Bern as an esteemed external expert.

September 2022 – Swim at the Thunersee
During its annual retreat, the e-Lab took a swim in the Thunersee. From left to right, front to back: Marc Grau Leguia, Maxime Baud, Camille Mignardot, Ellen Van Maren, Grégory Lepeu, Richard Burman, Cécilia Friedrichs-Maeder, Enrique Perez.

February 2022 – SPECTictal – First patient in
In a proof-of-principle study, we obtained scheduled ictal SPECTs in patients with intracranial EEG. This first solves practical issues linked to the need to inject ictal SPECT as soon as a seizure begins and enables the reliable imaging of seizure’s early propagation paths. The full article can be read here.

October 2021 – Hike in the bernese Oberland.
The e-Lab took a day off in the bernese Oberland, an hour away from the office, where we could enjoy stunning views of the Swiss Alps.
December 2020 – Interview Maxime Baud at RTS
Interview in French at the Radio Suisse Romande on seizure forecasting, and its analogy to weather forecasting.
December 2020 – Scientific American: Forecasts of Epilepsy Seizures.
“Seizures are like storms in the brain—sudden bursts of abnormal electrical activity that can cause disturbances in movement, behavior, feelings and awareness. For people with epilepsy, not knowing when their next seizure will hit can be psychologically debilitating.” Read the article about the lab’s work on seizure forecasting.

June 2020 – Move to SITEM
The team now moved its offices to the Swiss Institute for Translational and Entrepreneurial Medicine, right next to the hospital.

January 2018 – The Economist
The next frontier. When thoughts control machines. Read the special article about the latest developments in neuroengineering around the world, including work done at the Wyss Center.

February 2018 – Broad Institute Youtube Online Journal Club
Watch the slide-show presenting the paper “Multidien Rhythms modulate seizure risk” in epilepsy with comments by the authors.

January 2018 – The Scientist
Read the article by Diana Kwon entitled “Long-Term Brain Rhythms Offer Possibility of Predicting Seizures”.