Neuroscientist awarded grant to study serotonin-based modulation to treat seizures
Sharon Swanger, an assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, will use a $200,000 grant from the commonwealth to study how an approved drug impacts a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome.
Sharon Swanger, Ph.D.
Dravet syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that affects one in 15,000 people, is fatal to one in five with the disorder. It is most often caused by a gene mutation that overexcites the brain.
Fenfluramine, a drug approved to treat Dravet syndrome, represents a significant advance for these patients. It reduces seizures by increasing serotonin — which regulates mood, appetite, movement, and sensation. What are not as well understood are the neurobiological mechanisms behind how the drug or serotonin regulate seizure activity in the brain.
A two-year, $200,000 grant from Virginia’s Commonwealth Health Research Board will help Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC scientist Sharon Swanger explore fenfluramine and serotonin’s role in Dravet syndrome.
“Our long-term goal is to advance the understanding and treatment for pediatric epilepsies and the life-long disability they cause,” said Swanger, who also holds an appointment in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology in the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.
Swanger wants to know how changes in serotonin affect the brain in mouse models with Dravet syndrome, and which patients with epilepsy might benefit from these findings. “I want to see whether there is a safer way to achieve what fenfluramine does, and whether this can be used on a wider population,” Swanger said.
There are many different types and causes of epilepsy, but they share common traits in seizure-prone areas of the brain. “Therapies targeting these areas could be applied broadly for epilepsy,” Swanger said. Through a better understanding of how fenfluramine’s suppresses seizures in Dravet syndrome, Swanger hopes to better predict which populations will benefit.
This story by Aaron Pozo-Aranda and Harbal Rai is part of a series written by Virginia Tech undergraduate students who studied science communication and administration as part of a summer fellowship at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC in Roanoke.
