UCT scientist wins award for work on brain seizures

A University of Cape Town (UCT) scientist's five-year study to uncover what causes the brain to seize has earned him a 2017 Claude Leon Merit Award - which recognises exceptional work by early-career academics in the natural sciences, medical sciences and engineering.

Dr Joseph Raimondo

Dr Joseph Raimondo, a cellular neuroscientist at UCT’s Department of Human Biology, is investigating how changes to inhibitory synaptic transmission and neuroinflammatory responses relate to the emergence and termination of epileptic seizures.

“The brain depends on the coordinated activity of multiple computational units – brain cells – for its operation. The award recognises research into understanding why certain seizures don’t stop by themselves. This condition, termed status epilepticus, constitutes a serious medical emergency with a high mortality rate," he says.

Raimondo has always been fascinated with the brain, and from a young age he has endeavoured to understand how it works.

“I started my academic career studying medicine at UCT, after which I broadened my horizons by studying neuroscience at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. This allowed me to understand first hand many of the health challenges faced by my fellow South Africans. I also got to learn quite a bit about the body, including the brain.”