Congratulations to Prof Helen Cross on her OBE honour

Professor Helen Cross, Executive board member of the ICNA, The Prince of Wales's Chair of Childhood Epilepsy, Deputy Head of Developmental Neurosciences Programme of the UCL Institute of Child Health and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Neurology at Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust, London and Young Epilepsy, Lingfield, received an OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the Queen of England's Birthday Honours for her services to Children with Epilepsy.

Professor Cross said

Huge progress has been made in the diagnosis and management of epilepsy over the past 20 years. This has required national and international collaboration, as well as constant translation to clinical practice. This award is a great honour, and which I dedicate to all the children with epilepsy with whom I have had contact over the years, who continue to teach us so much more and for whom we strive for better outcome".!

Professor Cross has published widely on seizure, neuropsychological and behavioural outcomes in children who have undergone surgical resection for treatment of their epilepsy.

Her research has focused on improving outcomes for children with early onset epilepsy. Her early research was into improving imaging techniques to determine areas of likely seizure onset in children with drug resistant focal epilepsy and has developed an epilepsy surgery programme based on her research.

She conducted the first randomized controlled trial of the ketogenic diet in the treatment of children with drug resistant focal epilepsy and is endeavouring to conduct the same in the very young and adults. Recognising there was little in the way of control data with regard to neurodevelopmental progress, she initiated the North London Epilepsy in Infancy study, where a cohort of children was recruited at diagnosis in the first two years of life, and has been followed to at least three years. She is now aiming to conduct a similar study over a wider geographical area, also examining phenotypes and genotypes.