The Epilepsy Foundation of New Jersey is proud to introduce our five scholarship winners for 2014.  Each of these students has had to deal with epilepsy and will be going on to college this fall.

Ryan DeLoughry is a graduate of Bergen Catholic will be receiving the Lew Goldstein scholarship. In the Fall, he will be attending Wesleyan University. Ryan will be studying economics and hopes to enter into the field of public policy and law. In high school, Ryan was a member of student government, a sports and politics writer for the school newspaper, and baseball player.

 

Arely Lima is a graduate of Passaic High School. In the Fall she will be attending William Paterson University. In high school, she was a tutor and member of the Future Teachers Club of America.

 

Nadia Starbinski is a graduate of West Orange High School will also be receiving the Lew Goldstein. In the Fall, Nadia will be attending Pace University with a concentration in journalism. In high school, Nadia participated in cheerleading and the newspaper.

 

Kelly Pretz is a graduate of Manasquan High School. In the Fall, she will be attending Bucknell University. In 2012 Kelly participated in the Epilepsy Foundation's Teens Speak UP in Washington DC. Kelly is a published author writing a book about a young girl's experience with epilepsy.

 

Morgan Leaf is a graduate of Our Lady of Mercy Academy. In the Fall, she will be attending Alderson Broaddus University. She is an accomplished gymnast and coach. In 2013 Morgan held a fundraiser at her school to raise awareness about epilepsy.

 

Congratulations to each of these exceptional individuals.

 

If you would like to support the 2015 scholarship program, please go to the "donate" button above.  We would love to expand the program next year.

 

Enjoy a fun filled day of top-notch golf, dining, networking and camaraderie at the beautiful Upper Montclair Country Club. All proceeds will enable EFNJ to continue offering programs and services to more than 129,000 people in New Jersey with epilepsy and developmental disabilities.

Monday, July 21st, 2014
Upper Montclair Country Club - Clifton, NJ

Schedule of Events
10:30 am - 12:30 pm - Registration
11:00 am - 12:30 pm - Lunch
12:30 pm - Shotgun
*Cocktails, dinner and awards ceremony will immediately follow the conclusion of the tournament

Download Electronic Invitation
Sponsorship & Foursome Reservation
Tee Sign Reservation 

 

Join us on August 12, 2014 for our annual Day at the Beach at the Governor's Beach House, Island Beach State Park.

The day will begin at 11am and will go until 4pm.  A cookout with burgers and dogs will be provided.

For most children there are many local opportunities for physical activity programs, however this is not always the case for children with epilepsy. "Get FIT Kids" is currently providing specialized fitness instruction and group programming to children with epilepsy and other developmental disabilities in the Red Bank area in a socially inclusive and safe environment. Weekly sessions are designed to build flexibility, balance and coordination while fostering listening and communication skills.

 

 To register your child aged 5-12, please contact Adeola at 609-392-4900.

 

Science Daily

Febrile seizures -- convulsions brought on by fever -- typically last only a few minutes and are relatively common in infants and small children. However, in some cases, children experience febrile seizures that last for more than 30 minutes (known as febrile status epilepticus, or FSE). Of these children, 40 percent will go on to develop temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) -- a common and often treatment-resistant brain disorder.

Physicians currently have no way to anticipate which of the children with a history of extended febrile seizures (FSE) will go on to develop TLE, and children typically do not experience the onset of the disease until 10-12 years after the onset of FSE.  Continue reading

Science Daily

A clinical trial found a reduction in seizures and improvement in related symptoms, including depression and anxiety, in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) who were treated with cognitive behavioral therapy informed psychotherapy (CBT-ip) with and without the medication sertraline.

PNES is not responsive to standard treatment and can be made worse by antiepileptic medications. Up to 20 percent of civilians and as many as 25 percent of veterans diagnosed as having epilepsy actually have PNES. PNES has psychological underpinnings but much less is known about effective treatments.  Continue reading