VNS therapy for drug resistant epilepsy

Dr. Christi Heck discusses drug-resistant epilepsy and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy.

Dr. Heck serves as the Medical Director of the USC Comprehensive Epilepsy Program at the Keck Medical Center in Los Angeles. She served as Chief of Staff at Keck Hospitals of USC from 2015-2017 and serves as Co-Director for the USC Neurorestoration Center. She is board certified in both neurology and epilepsy.

She is a member of the professional advisory board of the Epilepsy Foundation and has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAECs). From 2011-12, she served on the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on the Public Health Dimensions of the Epilepsies assisting in the writing of Epilepsy Across the Spectrum: Promoting Health and Understanding.

She has been a member of the Association of California Neurologists Board of Directors, where she actively participated in opinions and discussions regarding patient care and access to care within the state of California. She volunteers regularly for Hollywood Health and Society of the USC Annenberg School of Communications Norman Lear Center whose goals are the promotion and evaluation of public health topics in film and television.

Her research focuses on innovative approaches to treating epilepsy, including responsive neurostimulation and paradigms for optimizing neuromodulatory therapies, vagus nerve stimulation, epilepsy surgery, and Gamma Knife radiosurgery. Her expertise also includes services to minority populations as well as furthering understanding of status epilepticus, neuronal injury, memory dysfunction, brain-machine interfaces and the psychosocial impact of epilepsy. She is keenly interested in quality and access to care for epilepsy patients and families across the nation.