Catherine Schevon MD

Catherine A. Schevon is an associate professor of neurology at Columbia University. An expert in clinical neurophysiology and epilepsy, her research focuses on the cellular processes that occur during seizures and links those processes to the expressions in microelectrode recordings in order to inform the clinical process of seizure localization.

She began her career as an electrical engineer but eventually decided to pursue her interests in medicine. “I was attracted to neurology right from the beginning. The thing I liked about neurology was how little we really knew about what goes on in the brain. With epilepsy, it’s that times ten. I got into this type of research when I was a fellow looking at intra-cranial implants.” Seeing brain data as it occurs was fascinating to Catherine. “You mean we’re recording data right from the patient’s brain and we’re looking at it? You’re kidding!” Catherine and her research team first looked at using the Utah Array when they were looking for equipment that can predict seizures. Together with Dr. Ronald Emerson, Dr. Bob Goodman, Dr. Guy McKhann, and her research team they devised a surgical strategy appropriate for short-term implantation in patients undergoing standard grid implants in preparation for epilepsy surgery. After implantation, Catherine and Ronald were amazed to see the data recorded from the Utah Array. The vital data gathered from the seven patients that were implanted provided a wealth of information that continues to be studied by Catherine and her team. Their analyses have resulted in a series of high-profile publications, the count of which exceeds the number of patients studied, that have fundamentally changed our understanding of interictal EEG discharges, and seizure initiation, propagation, and termination.