Mary B. Connolly

Mary B. Connolly MB, BCh BAO, FRCP(C), FRCP(I), FRCP(Ed)
Clinical Investigator, CFRI
Clinical Professor and Division Head, Division of Neurology, Department of Paediatrics, University of British Columbia
Director of the Epilepsy Surgery Program, BC Children's Hospital

Primary Area of Research

Developmental Neurosciences & Child Health
Secondary Area(s) of Research
Email mconnolly@cw.bc.ca
Phone 604-875-2345 ext. 3512
Fax 604-875-2285

Mailing Address
BC Children's Hospital
Room K3-179, 4480 Oak Street
Vancouver, BC V6H 3V4

Research Areas
Pediatric neurology, epilepsy and epilepsy surgery
Psychiatric comorbidity in children with epilepsy
Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures

Summary
My research centers on various aspects of pediatric neurology, primarily epilepsy and surgical management of epilepsy.

Epilepsy is the most common chronic neurological disorder in children and is characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures due to uncontrolled electrical activity in the brain. Thirty per cent or more of epilepsy cases do not respond to conventional epileptic medications. Other treatments for epilepsy are epilepsy surgery, vagus nerve stimulation, the ketogenic diet and investigational anti-epileptic drugs.

The epilepsy surgery program at BC Children’s Hospital was established in the mid 90s. My research focuses on outcomes following epilepsy surgery of various types and the influence of surgery on seizure control, quality of life, learning and attention. I am also involved in research in video-EEG monitoring, psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, psychiatric comorbidity in epilepsy and adverse reactions to anti-epileptic drugs.