The presentation is unsettling, especially when the man’s upper body rotates unnaturally and he eventually must be helped to the floor.

It is this disabling condition that Dr. Schachter, a doctor, researcher and authority on epilepsy, and colleague John Guttag, PhD, a professor and computer scientist, are focusing on as they work to discover better methods of treatment. They are passionate about using technology to provide innovative solutions, and have worked closely with CIMIT to advance their research.

Much of their story revolves around how they began their partnership. One of CIMIT’s great strengths is putting together motivated researchers who can complement each other, and this certainly has been the case with Steve Schachter and John Guttag.

Dr. Schachter is an epilepsy clinician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Guttag is a computer scientist and a professor at MIT.

Though only two miles separate BIDMC and MIT, the two institutions are worlds apart. CIMIT proved to be the meeting ground where these two energetic scientists began discussing a technology that could prove to be larger than the sum of its parts – and a promising technology for patients.

Read entire story to learn how a new approach might be developed
that could alert vulnerable patients to imminent seizures