Fall 2025 Grantee Highlight:
Avtar Singh Roopra
Avtar Singh Roopra Ph.D.
Professor in Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Epilepsy affects nearly 80 million people worldwide and carries profound personal and societal burdens. Current interventions focus on controlling seizures, yet about one‑third of patients continue to experience them despite medication.
Researchers in Avtar Roopra’s laboratory are developing a new approach to treat epilepsy by identifying a brief critical window in which a short course of treatment can promote long-lasting recovery of brain function. By defining the molecular and cellular mechanisms that drive this disease‑modifying effect, the team aims to lay the groundwork for therapies that address the underlying disease rather than solely control seizures.
Work from The Roopra Lab has revealed an unexpected opportunity to intervene long after the initial brain injury that triggers epilepsy. Months after trauma, the brain undergoes a second wave of inflammatory signaling, a process the team calls “reignition.” In animal models, briefly blocking this reignition with a 10‑day course of the approved drug tofacitinib eliminates seizures, restores cognitive function, and reverses disease‑related brain changes even after treatment ends.
This project aims to pinpoint the specific molecules and brain cell types that drive this long‑lasting recovery, establishing the foundation for future therapeutic development and potentially revealing new ways to reset the brain in other chronic neurological disorders.
