- Overview
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Epilepsy, the most common chronic neurological disorder in children, is characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures due to uncontrolled brain activity, over 30% of epilepsy cases do not respond to standard anti-seizure medications. Alternative treatments include surgery, neuromodulation, the ketogenic diet, and experimental therapies.
I actively engage in investigator-driven studies and serve as the principal investigator on several clinical trials. My interests include identifying EEG findings as clinical predictors, exploring epilepsy-related psychiatric comorbidities, evaluating epilepsy surgery outcomes, and investigating innovative treatments for the condition.
- Publications
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Evaluating family-centred care at BC Children's Hospital: Healthcare providers' perspectives
Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice
Tessa Kolar and Courtney B Cook and Anthony Cooper and Tom Blydt-Hansen and Mary B. Connolly and Cyrus Boelman and Harpreet Chhina and Michelle Demos and Kyla J. Hildebrand and Kathryn Selby and Ye Shen and Scott E. Wenderfer and GenCOUNSEL Study and Alison Elliott
DOI: 10.1111/jep.14187
02/2025The curious case of the gene, the lesion, or neither
Epileptic Disorders
Alexander Freibauer and Bashayer Almohaimeed and Anita Datta
DOI: 10.1002/epd2.20293
02/2025The Initial Experience of Eslicarbazepine in Children at Three Canadian Tertiary Pediatric Care Centers
Journal of Child Neurology
Yvonne Nyakeri and Qi Xu and Maryam Nouri and Denait Haile and Anita N. Datta
DOI: 10.1177/08830738241282903
01/2025Circumstances Surrounding Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy in Children: A National Case-Series
Epilepsia
2025Competency-based EEG Training in Neurology: A More Measured Approach
The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences
2025Developmental and epileptic encephalopathies after successful treatment of pediatric ALL: A case series and review of literature
Epileptic Disorders
Vanita Shukla and Sylvia Cheng and Juliette Hukin and Linda Huh and Anita N. Datta
DOI: 10.1002/epd2.20280
12/2024Original Research: Clinical Significance of a Unique Pediatric EEG Configuration: Bi-Frontal Spikes With Simultaneous Bi-Occipital Positivity
Clinical EEG and Neuroscience
Jacqueline Crawford and Cassie McFarlane and Anita N Datta
DOI: 10.1177/15500594241246505
09/2024Case Report: Successful complete open corpus callosotomy for refractory epilepsy in Rett syndrome
Brain and Development Case Reports
Anita N. Datta and Mandeep Tamber
DOI: 10.1016/j.bdcasr.2024.100032
09/2024Dipolar EEG Spikes Are More Benign
Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology
Peter K.H. Wong
DOI: 10.1097/wnp.0000000000001112
08/2024A video case vignette: Hypermotor activity, ictal aggression, and bolting in an adolescent with an anteromedial temporal lesion
Epileptic Disorders
Anita N. Datta
DOI: 10.1002/epd2.20176
04/2024Effectiveness, safety and tolerability of perampanel by age group when used to treat people with focal and generalized epilepsy in clinical practice: The PERMIT Extension study
Epilepsy & Behavior
James Wheless and Robert T. Wechsler and Patricia Penovich and Eric Segal and Michael Chez and Antonietta Coppola and Anita Datta and Wendyl D'Souza and Imad Najm and Sheri Cappucci and Ricardo Sainz-Fuertes and Vicente Villanueva
DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2023.109369
10/2023Outcome of Absence Epilepsy With Onset at 8-11 Years of Age: Watershed Ages When Syndromes Overlap
Journal of Child Neurology
Anita N. Datta and Jacqueline Crawford and Laura Wallbank and Peter K. H. Wong
DOI: 10.1177/08830738231188397
08/2023The impact of anti-seizure medications on psychiatric disorders among children with epilepsy: Both a challenge and an opportunity?
Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry / Journal de l'Academie canadienne de psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent
PubMed: 37534124
08/2023Neurodevelopmental and Epilepsy Phenotypes in Individuals With Missense Variants in the Voltage-Sensing and Pore Domains of KCNH5
Neurology
Hannah Happ and Lynette G. Sadleir and Matthew Zemel and Guillem de Valles-Ibáñez and Michael S. Hildebrand and Allyn McConkie-Rosell and Marie McDonald and Halie May and Tristan Sands and Vimla Aggarwal and Christopher Elder and Timothy Feyma and Allan Bayat and Rikke S. Møller and Christina D. Fenger and Jens Erik Klint Nielsen and Anita N. Datta and Kathleen M. Gorman and Mary D. King and Natalia D. Linhares and Barbara K. Burton and Andrea Paras and Sian Ellard and Julia Rankin and Anju Shukla and Purvi Majethia and Rory J. Olson and Karthik Muthusamy and Lisa A. Schimmenti and Keith Starnes and Lucie Sedlácková and Katalin Šterbová and Markéta Vlcková and Petra Laššuthová and Alena Jahodová and Brenda E. Porter and Nathalie Couque and Estelle Colin and Clément Prouteau and Corinne Collet and Thomas Smol and Roseline Caumes and Fleur Vansenne and Francesca Bisulli and Laura Licchetta and Richard Person and Erin Torti and Kirsty McWalter and Richard Webster and Elizabeth E. Gerard a
DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000201492
02/2023Three consecutive epilepsy syndromes in one child
Epileptic Disorders
Min Jung Kim and Linda Huh and Anita N. Datta
DOI: 10.1002/epd2.20051
02/2023Reversible Cerebral Vasoconstriction Syndrome following Exchange Transfusion and Steroids in a Child with Sickle Cell Disease: A Case Report
Journal of Pediatric Neurology and Neuroscience
DOI: 10.36959/595/444
12/2022School performance in children at the time of new-onset seizures and at long-term follow-up: A retrospective cohort study
Journal of International Medical Research
Anita N. Datta and Peter K.H. Wong
DOI: 10.1177/03000605221081032
04/2022Effect of Training on Visual Identification of High Frequency Oscillations—A Delphi-Style Intervention
Frontiers in Neurology
Aaron M. Spring and Daniel J. Pittman and Arsalan Rizwan and Yahya Aghakhani and Jeffrey Jirsch and Mary Connolly and Samuel Wiebe and Juan Pablo Appendino and Trevor Steve and Neelan Pillay and Manouchehr Javidan and Morris Scantlebury and Chantelle Hrazdil and Colin Bruce Josephson and Cyrus Boelman and Donald Gross and Shaily Singh and Luis Bello-Espinosa and Linda Huh and Nathalie Jetté and Paolo Federico
DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2022.794668
02/2022Resilience of adolescents and teenagers with self-limited and genetic-generalized epilepsy during the COVID-19 pandemic
Epilepsy & Behavior Reports
Stephanie Kwok and Jennifer Engle
DOI: 10.1016/j.ebr.2021.100520
2022Hypnagogic Frontal EEG Bursts in Children: Epileptic or Not?
Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology
DOI: 10.1097/wnp.0000000000000722
11/2021Children With Trisomy 21 and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome With Predominant Myoclonic Seizures
Journal of Child Neurology
Matthew Macdonald and Jacqueline Crawford and Anita N. Datta
DOI: 10.1177/08830738211026072
10/2021Pediatric Occipital Spikes at a Single Center Over 26 Years and the Significance of Tangential Dipole
Journal of Child Neurology
Anita N. Datta and Laura Wallbank and Johann Micallef and Peter K. H. Wong
DOI: 10.1177/0883073820984042
06/2021Infantile Spasms and Trisomy 21: Unfavorable Outcomes with First-line Vigabatrin Therapy
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques
Jacqueline Crawford and Peter K.H. Wong
DOI: 10.1017/cjn.2021.12
01/2021At What Point Should We Discontinue Treatment in Super-Refractory Status Epilepticus?
Journal of Pediatric Epilepsy
Anita N. Datta
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1714389
09/2020Childhood Small Vessel Primary Angiitis of the Central Nervous System: A Treatable Cause of Super-refractory Status Epilepticus
Journal of Child Neurology
Michelle Chiu and Anita Datta
DOI: 10.1177/0883073819872579
01/2020Clinical Significance of Incidental Rolandic Spikes in Children With Absence Epilepsy
Journal of Child Neurology
Anita N. Datta and Laura Wallbank and Jeremy C. H. Mak and Peter K. H. Wong
DOI: 10.1177/0883073819848639
10/2019Two Patients With KCNT1-Related Epilepsy Responding to Phenobarbital and Potassium Bromide
Journal of Child Neurology
Anita N. Datta and Aspasia Michoulas and Ilaria Guella and Michelle Demos
DOI: 10.1177/0883073819854853
10/2019Diagnostic Yield and Treatment Impact of Targeted Exome Sequencing in Early-Onset Epilepsy.
Frontiers in neurology
Marna McKenzie and Sarah Elisabeth Buerki and Bruce H. Bjornson and Shelin Adam and Tanya Nelson and Corneliu Bolbocean
DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2019.00434
PubMed: 31164858
05/2019mTOR Inhibitors as a New Therapeutic Strategy in Treatment Resistant Epilepsy in Hemimegalencephaly: A Case Report
Journal of Child Neurology
Qi Xu and Shimrit Uliel-Sibony and Christopher Dunham and Harvey Sarnat and Laura Flores-Sarnat and Ledia Brunga and Scott Davidson and Winnie Lo and Adam Shlien and Mary Connolly and Cyrus Boelman
DOI: 10.1177/0883073818813238
03/2019Co-existence of Rolandic and 3 Hz Spike-Wave Discharges on EEG in Children with Epilepsy
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques
Laura Wallbank and Peter K. H. Wong
DOI: 10.1017/cjn.2018.364
01/2019Predictive Value of Midline Spikes on Pediatric EEG for Seizure and Developmental Outcome
Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology
Laura Wallbank and Qi Xu and Peter K. H. Wong
DOI: 10.1097/wnp.0000000000000516
11/2018Lack of response to quinidine in KCNT-related neonatal epilepsy
Epilepsia
Adam L. Numis and Umesh Nair and Tristan T. Sands and Michael S. Oldham and Akash Patel and Melody Li and Elena Gazina and Steven Petrou and Maria Roberta Cilio
DOI: 10.1111/epi.14551
10/2018Loss-of-Function and Gain-of-Function Mutations in KCNQ5 Cause Intellectual Disability or Epileptic Encephalopathy
Journal of Human Genetics
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.05.016
06/2017An Infant With Epilepsy and Recurrent Hemiplegia due to Compound Heterozygous Variants in ATP1A2
Pediatric Neurology
DOI: 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2017.06.003
06/2017Clinical Experience With Perampanel For Refractory Pediatric Epilepsy In One Canadian Center
Journal of Child Neurology
DOI: 10.1177/0883073817709195
05/2017Predictors of IQ After Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery
Scientific Times Journal of Paediatrics
02/2017Case Report: QARS Deficiency and Favorable Outcomes Following Treatment of Seizures With Ketogenic Diet
Journal of Child Neurology
DOI: 10.1177/0883073816685508
01/2017Manifestations of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex: The Experience of a Provincial Clinic
Canadian Journal Neurological Sciences
DOI: 10.1017/cjn.2016.311
2017Care of Children with Epilepsy at BC Children's Hospital
The Official Journal of the Hong Kong Society of Child Neurology and Developmental Paediatrics
2016DRESS and PRES in a Patient With Epilepsy: Unexpected Consequences of Adding Lamotrigine
Scientific Times Journal of Paediatrics
2016Discontinuation of antiepileptic drugs after successful epilepsy surgery. A Canadian survey
Epilepsy Research
José F. Téllez-Zenteno and Lizbeth Hernández Ronquillo and Nathalie Jette and Jorge G. Burneo and Dang Khoa Nguyen and Elizabeth J. Donner and Mark Sadler and Mano Javidan M and Donald W. Gross and Samuel Wiebe
DOI: 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2012.04.018
11/2012Tuberous Sclerosis Complex: From Basic Science to Clinical Phenotypes. 2003. Edited by Paolo Curatolo. Published by Mac Keith Press. 314 pages. C$112 approx.
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques
Anita Datta
DOI: 10.1017/s0317167100050940
03/2012Intelligence Quotient is Not Affected by Epilepsy Surgery in Childhood
Pediatric Neurology
Thomas J. Snyder and Matt B. Wheatley and Laura Jurasek and Nizam S. Ahmed and Donald W. Gross and D. Barry Sinclair
DOI: 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2010.10.011
02/2011Trisomy 8 Mosaicism and Favorable Outcome After Treatment of Infantile Spasms: Case Report
Journal of Child Neurology
Jonathan Picker and Alexander Rotenberg
DOI: 10.1177/0883073809357361
10/2010Selective amygdalohippocampectomy: surgical outcome in children versus adults.
The Canadian journal of neurological sciences. Le journal canadien des sciences neurologiques
S. Nizam Ahmed
PubMed: 19378712
03/2009A first stage genome-wide screen for regions shared identical-by-descent in hutterite families with multiple sclerosis
American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics
David Alexandre Dyment and M. Zameel Cader and S. John Broxholme and Stacey S. Cherny and Cristen J. Willer and Sreeram Ramagopalan and Blanca M. Herrera and Sarah Orton and Michael Chao and A. Dessa Sadovnick and Mary Hader and Walter Hader and George C. Ebers
DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.b.30620
06/2008Clinical Presentation and Diagnosis of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex in Infancy
Journal of Child Neurology
Cecil D. Hahn and Mustafa Sahin
DOI: 10.1177/0883073807309250
03/2008Discontinuation of Antiepileptic Drugs after Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery
Pediatric Neurology
D. Barry Sinclair and Laura Jurasek and Matt Wheatley and Donald Gross and Nizam Ahmed and Daphne Quigley and Thomas Snyder and Keith Aronyk and John McKean
DOI: 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2007.05.004
09/2007Benign Epilepsy of Childhood With Rolandic Spikes: Typical and Atypical Variants
Pediatric Neurology
D. Barry Sinclair
DOI: 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2006.12.003
03/2007Prognosis of seizures occurring in the first year
Pediatric Neurology
Elaine C Wirrell
DOI: 10.1016/s0887-8994(00)00130-2
05/2000 - Research
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Impact of Spike Location and Frequency on Cognitive and Emotional Development in Children with Generalized and Self-Limited Epilepsy
The impact of interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) on cognitive and emotional dysfunction is not well understood, particularly in children who often experience frequent IEDs alongside mild cognitive or emotional issues. There are concerns that IEDs may negatively affect cognitive and emotional processes, leading to potential treatment needs. Since anti-seizure medications do not fully suppress IEDs and can have adverse effects, this prospective study aims to explore the connection between the frequency and location of IEDs and cognitive-emotional dysfunction in children with self-limited focal epilepsy and genetic generalized epilepsy.Treatment of Medically Refractory Epilepsy due to Focal Cortical Dysplasia with mTOR inhibitors
Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) is a malformation of cortical development and the primary cause of drug-resistant epilepsy in children, often leading to surgery in those under three. Increasing evidence suggests that the mTOR pathway is vital in various epilepsy syndromes, including FCD. This open-label pilot study evaluates the efficacy of the mTOR inhibitor, sirolimus, for treating refractory seizures due to FCD in children awaiting epilepsy surgery.The Prevalence and Risk Factors for Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder of Children and Adolescents with Epilepsy
This prospective study aims to assess the prevalence of children and adolescents aged 8 to 18 at risk for Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) in a pediatric epilepsy clinic. We will identify clinical risk factors for ARFID, such as age of seizure onset, sex, seizure types, drug-resistant epilepsy, number of anti-seizure medications, epilepsy syndrome, neurodevelopmental status, and history of autism spectrum disorder. Additionally, we will screen for depression and anxiety, as these may independently contribute to ARFID risk in epilepsy patients.Multi-centre study retrospective study: Comparison of treatment-response of Trisomy 21 patients with infantile spasms to first-line vigabatrin or hormonal therapies
In this retrospective multi-center study, we are reviewing clinical data from patients with Trisomy 21 syndrome and infantile spasms across various tertiary pediatric care centers in Canada and the United States. The aim is to compare the treatment responses and long-term outcomes of patients receiving first-line Vigabatrin versus those receiving first-line hormonal therapy for infantile spasms associated with Trisomy 21.EEG predictors for clinical outcome in Rett syndrome
Rett syndrome (RTT) exhibits variability in EEG findings and clinical severity. Some patients maintain ambulation and have no seizure history into adulthood, while others become non-ambulatory early or experience drug-resistant epilepsy. Common EEG features associated with developmental delay and severe seizures include background suppression, slowed activity, poorly formed sleep architecture, and frequent epileptiform discharges. However, the relationship between these EEG findings and clinical features in RTT is not well understood. This study aims to identify EEG predictors of clinical severity by examining the initial EEG during the plateau or rapid regression phase.Rett (RTT) Imaging Study
Further research is necessary to understand anatomical, metabolic, and functional changes in the brains of children with RTT, and to link these changes with measures of genetics, disease progression and clinical features. The primary aim of the current study will be to investigate white matter (WM) architectural and metabolic differences between girls with RTT (aged 5-12 years; n = 10) compared to healthy age-matched girls (aged 5-12 years; n = 5-10), as well as explore the relationship between these WM measures and RTT clinical severity scores, age, genetic MECP2 mutations, and seizures. Secondary aims will explore novel functional abnormalities in RTT and its association with severity, age, genetic mutations, and seizures.Honours & AwardsResearch Mentor Award (Neurology Program, UBC), 2019.
Research Mentor Award (Neurology Program, UBC), 2017.
Research Mentor Award (Neurology Program, UBC), 2016.
Research Mentor Award (Neurology Program, UBC), 2015.
Professional Development Grant from Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada ($5000), 2017
Brain Behavior and Development: Open Access Publication Award, October, 2024.
Research Group MembersHayoung Cho, Research Assistant
Vesna Popovska, Research Director, Pediatric Neurology & Neurosurgery
Congratulations CIHR Fall 2024 Project Grant recipients
Congratulations to the investigators and their teams who were awarded funding through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fall 2024 Project Grant competition!
