VISE Fall Seminar with Angela Crudele, MD 10.2.25
VISE welcomes Angela Crudele, MD, to our Fall Seminar Series.
Angela Crudele, MD
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Date: Thursday, October 2, 2025
Location: SVC 5326
Time: 11:45 am for lunch, 12:00 start
Title:
“The Thalamus in Epilepsy: A New Target in Neuromodulation”
Abstract:
Treatment of drug-resistant idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) remains a critical unmet need, with patients facing more limited options than their counterparts with focal epilepsy. Novel pharmacologic trials disproportionately emphasize focal epilepsies, and currently available neuromodulatory devices are FDA-approved exclusively for focal onset disease. Moreover, patients with drug-resistant IGE are not candidates for potentially curative resective surgical approaches, further constraining the therapeutic landscape. In recent years, direct thalamic stimulation has emerged as a promising strategy for addressing this therapeutic gap. This talk will highlight the neurobiological rationale for thalamic targeting in IGE, recent investigational efforts, including work performed in part at Vanderbilt, to expand treatment availability, and the ongoing limitations of these advances in achieving seizure control. This research underscores a transformative potential for neuromodulation to redefine therapeutic opportunities in IGE.
Bio:
Angela Crudele, MD is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. She joined the faculty of VUMC in 2019 as an epileptologist. She is the Clinical Director of Epilepsy Surgery and leads the program’s fellow education in stereographic EEG. Dr. Crudele is also active in the area of medical education within the Vanderbilt School of Medicine, leading the Brain, Behavior, and Movement course for the first-year medical students. She teaches about neuromodulation regularly on a national level and has been involved in multiple clinical trials in neuromodulation.