Epilepsy Fellowship

Dr. Hesham T. Ghonim, MD, Program Director

Epilepsy Fellowship

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 a 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 Comprehensive Epilepsy Center where we provide intensive neurodiagnostic monitoring with multidisciplinary medical, neuropsychological and psychosocial treatments, and deliver access to a broad range of surgical procedures.

Facilities

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

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

• We are the largest responsive neurostimulation (RNS) centers in the U.S. by volume.
• We perform 25-30 resective epilepsy surgeries and implant over 40 neurostimulation devices each year.
• Our dedicated functional neurosurgeons are well versed in all surgical modalities, including Stereo-EEG, laser ablation, and implantation of all available neuromodulatory devices - RNS, vagal nerve stimulator (VNS) and deep brain stimulator (DBS).
• An invasive electrode placement is performed using the state-of-the-art Robotic Sterotactic Assistance (ROSA).
• Biweekly multidisciplinary epilepsy surgery conferences provide all members of the care team with an opportunity to hold real-time discussions for surgical planning an to optimize patient care outcomes.

Faculty and Staff

Hesham T. Ghonim, MD, Program Director, Epilepsy Fellowship. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Neurological Sciences and the division chief and center director of the comprehensive epilepsy center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He also serves as the medical director of the Magnetoencephalography center at Nebraska Medicine.

Dr. Ghonim completed his combined clinical neurophysiology and epilepsy fellowship training at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where he focused on epilepsy surgery, comprehensive management of drug-resistant epilepsies and continuous EEG monitoring in the intensive care settings. His reach interests include surgical management of drug-resistant epilepsy, neuromodulation, and novel drug therapies. His current practice includes patients with complex refractory epilepsies.

• 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.