Brett Neville Wilson Lecture: Elizabeth J. Donner

Elizabeth J. Donner, MD, MSc, FRCPC

Director, Comprehensive Epilepsy Program at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto

Dr. Elizabeth Donner is the Director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Michael Bahen Chair in Epilepsy Research and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at University of Toronto. Dr. Donner is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and McMaster University. She completed a residency in Pediatric Neurology at the Hospital for Sick Children and fellowships in Pediatric Epilepsy and Functional Neuroimaging at Children’s Hospital Boston.  Dr. Donner joined the staff of the SickKids Division of Neurology in 2003 and obtained a Masters Degree in Clinical Epidemiology in 2015.

Dr. Donner has received peer-reviewed funding to examine the risk factors for sudden death in epilepsy and the efficacy of dietary therapies for drug-resistant epilepsy. She is co-founder of SUDEP Aware, a non-profit organization which promotes knowledge and understanding of Sudden Unexplained and Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP).  She has held leadership positions including Secretary Treasurer of the Canadian League Against Epilepsy, Chair of the Canadian Pediatric Epilepsy Network and Vice President of the Board of Epilepsy Toronto and Chair of the American Epilepsy Society SUDEP Task Force.  Dr. Donner is a member of the Steering Committee for the Canadian Pediatric Surveillance Program and is currently Co-Chair of Partners Against Mortality in Epilepsy and Co-Lead of ECHO Ontario: Epilepsy across the Lifespan.