Professor Ingrid Scheffer
Professor of Paediatric Neurology, The University of Melbourne and Florey Institute, Austin Health, and The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.
Professor Ingrid Scheffer is a physician-scientist whose work as a paediatric neurologist and epileptologist has led the field of epilepsy genetics over 25 years, in collaboration with Professor Samuel Berkovic and molecular geneticists. This resulted in identification of the first epilepsy gene and many more genes subsequently. Professor Scheffer has described many novel epilepsy syndromes and refines genotype–phenotype correlation. Her major interests are in the genetics of the epilepsies, epilepsy syndromology and translational research. She has research projects in genetics of speech disorders, autism and intellectual disability. She led the first major reclassification of the epilepsies in two decades as Chair of the International League Against Epilepsy Commission for Classification and Terminology. Awards include American Epilepsy Society Clinical Research Recognition Award, 2013 GSK Award for Research Excellence, ILAE Ambassador for Epilepsy Award, 2013 Emil Becker Prize for child neurology and Asia-Pacific L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Laureate for 2012. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and Vice-President of Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. She was co-recipient of 2014 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science and received the Order of Australia in 2014.