Christianne Heck, MD, MMM, is the medical director of the USC Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, and serves as chief of Neurology at the Keck Medical Center of USC. She is board-certified in neurology, with subspecialty training in epilepsy. A native of the Los Angeles area, she completed her BS and CPhD degrees at UCLA before obtaining her medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine of USC. She completed an internship in internal medicine at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles and a neurology residency at the Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center.

During her fellowship in epilepsy at USC, she was the co-principal investigator on one of the world’s largest vagal nerve stimulation trials, gaining experience in the first device invented to treat epilepsy. She cares for epilepsy patients with surgical and novel approaches, including gamma knife radiosurgery and responsive neurostimulation. She forged collaborations with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and California Institute of Technology to foster projects that focus on the interaction between the brain and machines. She serves on the advisory board of the Coulter Program at USC Viterbi, as well as on the faculty of the HTE@USC, a biomedical engineering collaborative effort between the Viterbi School of Engineering and Keck School of Medicine.

In 2005, Heck received a master’s degree in medical management degree from the USC Marshall School of Business. She participates in a variety of leadership and lobbying roles. She volunteers for the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles, served as a board member from 2010 to 2012 and a member of its Professional Advisory Board. In 2012, she was elected to the Professional Advisory Board of the national Epilepsy Foundation. She served as board member for the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC) from 2009 to 2011.

Charles Liu, MD, PhD, studied chemical engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. After graduation, he received his PhD in chemical and biomedical engineering at Rice University before attending medical school at Yale University. He completed his neurosurgery residency at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. He is a physician specialist in neurosurgery at LAC+USC Medical Center, as well as associate professor of Neurological Surgery and Apuzzo Professorship for Advanced Neurosurgery at the Keck School of Medicine.

He serves as the surgical director of the USC Comprehensive Epilepsy Center and co-director of the USC Pituitary Center. He also serves as chief of Neurosurgery and Spine at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Medical Center, and is a guest professor in Neurosurgery at Hua Shan Hospital, Fudan University School of Medicine in Shanghai. His principal research interests relate to restorative neurosurgery, elucidating strategies to restore function to the nervous system after injury due to trauma, stroke, or neurodegenerative disease. These strategies include surgical, technological (i.e. advanced neuroprostheses, robotics), as well as biological (i.e. stem cell transplantation). He has won numerous awards for his research and has contributed extensively to the published literature. He has also given numerous lectures nationally and internationally. He recently received a $1 million research grant to study neurostimulation and temporal lobe epilepsy with collaborators in neurology and biomedical engineering. He serves as assistant editor on the Editorial Board of World Neurosurgery. He also serves as a principal neurosurgical consultant for the NCAA Division I USC Trojans.

Arthur Partikian, MD, attended Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis on a full-tuition merit scholarship, graduating in 2002. Thereafter, he completed a combined general pediatrics and child neurology residency at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, obtaining adult neurology training at LAC+USC Medical Center and Keck Hospital of USC (formerly known as USC University Hospital). He is board certified in neurology with special qualification in child neurology. In 2007, Partikian was recruited by USC Departments of Neurology and Pediatrics to serve as the only pediatric neurologist at LAC+USC Medical Center. As the director of the Division of Child Neurology, he oversees clinical services for children with acute or chronic neurological conditions. As an assistant professor of Clinical Pediatrics & Neurology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, he has distinguished himself by being awarded two Outstanding Faculty Teaching awards in five years. He serves on the Professional Advisory Committee of the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles, and continues to provide testimony to the State Senate Committees and the California Board of Education regarding the care of students with epilepsy. His current clinical research interests include mental health problems in children with epilepsy, elucidating biomarkers of intractable seizures and specific behavioral problems, Rett syndrome, and dietary programs for epilepsy. He also focuses on designing case management processes that improve care coordination and access to holistic care for vulnerable patient populations.

Susan Shaw, MD, is a neurologist specializing in epilepsy. She serves as the director of the Epilepsy Service Line and associate director of Stroke Medical Home at Rancho Los Amigos Rehabilitation Center in Downey, Calif.