What We Do
We are a charity dedicated to finding a cure for epilepsy. We believe that research will lead us to that cure.
Other provincial and regional epilepsy organizations across the country do the excellent work of providing social services (like employment services, counselling and support groups) but at Epilepsy Canada our sole mandate is to raise monies in order to promote and fund patient-focused research.
As a charity our key activities are:
Funding Research:
In the last 10 years Epilepsy Canada has raised $4.3 million to invest in epilepsy research and other initiatives that will lead the way to cures for the epilepsies. Epilepsy Canada has awarded grants for novel research projects to prevent epilepsy related to pediatric epilepsy, treatment-resistant epilepsies, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, temporal lobe epilepsy, advancing the search for a cure, eliminating treatment side effects, and reversing deficits caused by frequent seizures. Epilepsy Canada funds grants for young and established investigators and to–date has awarded more than 15 cutting-edge projects across the country.
Advocacy & Awareness:
For the over 300,000 Canadians and 65 million people worldwide with epilepsy, progress is unacceptably slow. People with uncontrollable seizures frequently face a lifetime of challenges including misunderstandings about epilepsy, discrimination, and other epilepsy-related problems. Mortality rates among people with epilepsy are three times the rate of the general population, and sudden death rates are more than twenty times higher.
More people talking about epilepsy, with more voices lifted together can create greater change.
Greater public knowledge and understanding about epilepsy will lead to more research dollars aimed at finding a cure.