Christi N. Heck, M.D., M.M.M. is Director of the USC Adult Comprehensive Epilepsy Program. A graduate of USC School of Medicine and the USC Marshall School of Business, she came on faculty at USC in 1995. Dr. Heck’s interests in epilepsy vary widely from surgical methods for epilepsy to effects of hormones on seizures. She is an expert in the management of epilepsy using Vagus Nerve Stimulation, and is currently the principal investigator for the only Southern California site of a multi-center trial treating temporal lobe epilepsy with Gamma Knife Radiosurgery. She was recently selected as among the distinguished “Best Doctors in America”.
Laura A. Kalayjian, M.D. is a native of Boston, Massachusetts. She finished medical school at the University of Massachusetts in Worcester, MA and completed her neurology residency at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California. She was fellowship trained in epilepsy and neurophysiology under Dr. Martha Morrell at Columbia Presbyterian in New York. She accepted a position at the University of Southern California Department of Neurology in July 2000. She has been active as co-director of the comprehensive epilepsy center and continues to pursue her research interests in women with epilepsy and the hormonal influences, pregnancy and epilepsy, and quality of life issues in persons with epilepsy.
David Y. Ko, M.D. is Chief of Neurology and Director of the EEG Lab at LAC+USC Medical Center. He is a graduate of George Washington University School of Medicine and did his neurology residency at Thomas Jefferson University followed by epilepsy fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. He is Board Certified in Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology and his subspecialty is epilepsy. His research interest has been in the development of new anticonvulsants and has been principal investigator in many anti-epileptic drug trials. He is Co-Chair of the Professional Advisory Board of the Epilepsy Foundation of Los Angeles and lectures widely on epilepsy. He is listed in Who’s Who in Healthcare and Medicine and was recognized as one of America’s Top Physician 2004-2005 by the Consumer Research Council of America.
Charles Lui, M.D., Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery and the Director of Epilepsy Surgery in the Department of Neurological Surgery at USC Keck School of Medicine. He has a background in Chemical/Biomedical Engineering, having completed his PhD under the direction of J. David Hellums at Rice University. He is a graduate of the Yale University School of Medicine and completed his training in neurological surgery at USC Keck School of Medicine. He has won numerous awards for his research, including the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Margot Anderson Foundation Fellowship for Brain Restoration Research, the Baxter Scholarship, and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons NREF Young Clinician Investigator Award. His research interests are in developing advanced biomaterial for use in restorative neurosurgery and maintains an active presence at the California Institute of Technology where he is appointed Visiting Associate in Chemical Engineering. Dr. Liu has experience in all aspects of epilepsy surgery, from resection of seizure foci after cerebral localization and mapping to placement of neurostimulation devices. Dr. Liu is very interested in incorporating the most advanced technology into the surgical endeavor to increase patient safety and comfort. He has benefited tremendously from mentorship from Professor Johannes Schramm of Bonn. He is also interested in the basic molecular mechanisms of seizures. In addition to epilepsy surgery, Dr. Liu is also interested in the surgical treatment of cerebrovascular diseases, tumors of the sella-parasellar regions, and adult brain tumors.
Carol McCleary, Ph.D. earned her PhD in cognitive psychology from Princeton University and completed fellowships in neuropsychology at Boston University and Harvard Medical School. She joined the Department of Neurology and the Epilepsy Team here at USC in 1992 and became Director of Neuropsychology in 2003. She now assists the Division of Epilepsy in pre-operative formal neuropsychologic testing and interpretation of WADA testing.
Gail Murdock, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist specializing in health psychology and clinical neuropsychology. A graduate of Fuller Graduate School of Psychology, she completed her internship at the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration followed by a post-doctoral fellowship in the Neurology Department at USC. Dr. Murdock has been an Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology since 1994. Dr. Murdock’s research focuses on the development of coping resources in individuals with chronic neurological diseases. As a part of establishing a program of psychosocial services designed specifically for patients with neurological disorders, Dr. Murdock provides clinical services include individual, couple's, family and group therapy.
Nora Jimenez, Ph.D. is a neuropsychologist based at the LAC/USC Medical Center. Dr Jimenez earned her Ph.D from the California School of Professional Psychology, and then completed a two year post-doctoral fellowship in Neuropsychology from Harbor-UCLA. She provides immense support to the epilepsy program through neuropsychologic/pre-operative testing and WADA testing interpretation in both English and Spanish languages.
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