Epilepsy Fellowship

Dr. Shelley Lee, Program Director

Epilepsy affects millions of people around the world, including 3 million adults and 470,000 children in the U.S. Approximately 20,000 Nebraskans have epilepsy, and of those, about 6,000 have drug-resistant epilepsy and require specialized care. There is a shortage of specialists in Epileptology throughout the country and especially in the Midwest. Because of the shortage of specialists and high patient volumes from the vast catchment area, fellows at our training program have an opportunity to learn by seeing some of the most complex and fascinating epilepsy cases.

The fellowship training at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) takes place at a Level 4 Epilepsy Center where we provide intensive neurodiagnostic monitoring, extensive medical, neuropsychological and psychosocial treatments, and deliver access to a broad range of surgical procedures.

Facilities

Our Epilepsy Center includes an eight-bed Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) for adult and pediatric patients referred for diagnostic EEG and presurgical evaluation. We treat over 300 patients annually in the EMU. Fellows also spend one month at Children's Nebraska with the pediatric epilepsy team.

We are one of only a handful of medical centers across the country to have a magnetoencephalography (MEG) scanner where our fellows may be trained with an experienced faculty member.

• We are the ninth largest responsive neurostimulation (RNS) center in the U.S. by volume.
• We perform 25-30 resective epilepsy surgeries and implant over 40 neurostimulation devices each year.
• Our surgeons are well versed in all surgical modalities, including stereotactic EEG, laser ablation, and implantation of all available devices – RNS, vagal nerve stimulator (VNS) and deep brain stimulator (DBS).
• An invasive electrode placement is performed using the Robotic Stereotactic Assistance (ROSA).
• Bi-weekly multidisciplinary epilepsy surgery conferences provide all members of the care team with an opportunity to hold real-time discussions to optimize patient care outcomes.

Faculty and Staff

Shelley Lee, DO, Program Director, Epilepsy Fellowship

• Five board-certified epileptologists and one clinical neurophysiologist with experience and research interests in complex epilepsy surgeries, neurostimulation devices for seizures, ketogenic diet, autoimmune seizures and pediatric epilepsy.
• Two dedicated neurosurgeons (including an epilepsy-surgery trained specialist) with experience in robotic-assisted techniques and placement of all available neurostimulation devices.
• A team of experienced neuropsychologists, advanced care providers, nurse case managers, social workers and administrative support dedicated to the epilepsy center.
• Epilepsy dietician skilled in administration of specialty diets effective to control drug-resistant seizures.
• Research scientists with interests in signal processing analysis and advanced imaging.