Bernd Pohlmann-Eden

Dr. Bernd Pohlmann-Eden MD, PhD is a neurologist, who received most of his training at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Early on he developed a strong interest in mechanisms of disease evolution and the impact of pharmacological intervention. As a model disease he studied extensively epilepsy with focus on early stages. He founded the center of presurgical evaluation in epilepsy at Mannheim Hospital, University of Heidelberg. Dr. Pohlmann-Eden was a visiting professor at the epilepsy service in Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School (1994) and at the Krembil Neuroscience Center, University of Toronto, Canada (2001). Between 2002 and 2007 he was the Chair and Medical Director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Program in Bethel, Bielefeld, Germany, the largest epilepsy center world-wide. He also held a position of Professor of Public Health during this time. 2008 he was appointed Full Professor of Neurology at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia. As the founder & director of the Halifax First Seizure Clinic, he started to individually and collectively follow-up on all patients with new-onset epilepsy. This longitudinal research cohort has provided since then manifold new insights in principles of disease evolution and mechanisms of pharmacoresistance. Since 2017 Dr. Pohlmann-Eden resides in Toronto. As a senior advisor in health care program development and neurosciences, he has been widely consulting academia, government bodies and industry, the latter with focus on antiseizure compounds and strategic development of Cannabis-based medicine formulations.

Dr. Bernd Pohlmann-Eden is an expert in treatment of brain network disorders with special focus on epilepsy. He has been the principal investigator in more than 50 drugs trials both in Europe and North America. He was the senior PI in the largest pharmaceutical trial in epilepsy, the KOMET study (Keppra vs Older Monotherapy in Epilepsy Trial). His interests range from natural history of untreated epilepsy & early pharmacological intervention, to mechanisms of pharmacoresistance, and innovative treatments such as Cannabis-based medicine. Dr. Bernd Pohlmann-Eden is committed to patient empowerment, knowledge transfer and education via e-health.  He has extensively published (250 scientific publications including e-papers, book chapters, society proceedings) and is a highly asked speaker on international conferences.