Voices: Jessica Keenan-Smith

Founder of LivingWellWithEpilepsy.com
Diagnosed with epilepsy at age 12

- Blogger

“The world is a little smaller now because of social media and we can benefit from that.”

I find we are stronger together. That’s the beauty of social media. Building a strong community of people who support one another is a big part of why I blog.

There’s a pervasive feeling of isolation that goes along with having epilepsy, but the world is a little smaller now because of social media and we can all benefit from that. As an example, if you have access to an Internet connection, you have access to my network, via livingwellwithepilepsy.com.

The hope for people living with epilepsy lies in the success of the BRAIN Initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative). This is a presidential focus that was announced by President Obama in early 2013 and will be spearheaded by the NIH. This goal to map the brain is comparable to Kennedy’s goal to put a man on the moon.

President Obama is putting money and power behind this initiative. So it’s not just the National Institutes of Health. It’s think tanks. It’s scientists around the world rallying around this. The movement in the past six months has been staggering.

One of the Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) awardees received a grant for 100K and he is looking at how Chandelier cells and stem cells can work together to cause a reaction that would minimize seizure activity and eliminate the need for medications.