Page Pennell, MD, has begun her term as President of the American Epilepsy Society (AES), a medical and scientific society with 4,400 members. Dr. Pennell's term started at the end of the society's recent annual meeting in New Orleans.
Dr. Pennell is Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Director of Research for the Division of Epilepsy at Brigham and Women's Hospital, with a secondary appointment in the Division of Women's Health. She is an adult epileptologist and a clinician investigator with a focus on sex-specific outcomes in epilepsy. Dr. Pennell's current research studies focus on the effects of hormones on seizure provocation, changes in drug metabolism with differing reproductive phases, and maternal and child outcomes during pregnancy in women with epilepsy. She is currently one of the multiple-Principal Investigators of the "Women with Epilepsy: Pregnancy Outcomes and Deliveries (WEPOD)" study funded by the Epilepsy Foundation, and the "Maternal Outcomes and Neurodevelopmental Effects of AEDs (MONEAD)," study funded by the National Institutes of Health. She has over 100 original and peer-reviewed articles in the field and 15 book chapters.
An AES member since 1993, Dr. Pennell has previously served on the AES Board of Directors and on the senior editorial board for the society's commentary journal, Epilepsy Currents. She chaired the Council on Clinical Activities as well as the Practice and Clinical Therapeutics Committees and has served as a member of numerous AES committees. She shares her passion for academic epilepsy by participating in the AES mentoring programs for fellows and junior investigators along with programs at her home institution. She is past chair of the Epilepsy Foundation's Professional Advisory Board and past director of the Clinical Epilepsy and the Neurologic Complications in Pregnancy courses for the American Academy of Neurology's Annual Meeting. In 2015, Dr. Pennell received the Distinguished Service Award from AES.
Dr. Pennell earned her medical degree from the University of Florida and completed residency in neurology and her fellowship in clinical neurophysiology/epilepsy at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Pennell resides in Newton, Mass., with her husband Kurt, Professor of Engineering at Brown University. Together, the couple has two children, Amelia and Cameron. They enjoy downhill skiing in the winter and boating on Cape Cod in the summer.