Six new members of the NPAC officially begin their three-years terms on January 1, 2025.  We were fortunate to have five of the six new members join the group in Los Angeles.

Dr. Gaston Baslet completed medical school in Buenos Aires, Argentina and his training in psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Baslet is a neuropsychiatrist who specializes in functional neurological disorder (including functional seizures) and psychiatric aspects of epilepsy and currently works at the Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs in Miami, FL. He is the former chief of the division of neuropsychiatry, and co-director of the neuropsychiatry and behavioral neurology fellowship training program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA.  He has conducted clinical research on treatment outcomes in functional seizures and other subtypes of functional neurological disorder. Dr. Baslet is also interested in promoting the integration of neuroscience into medical education. He is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Sonam Bhalla, MD, serves as Co-Director of the Neonatal Neurology Program at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and is an Assistant Professor at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Bhalla has always been fascinated with the nervous system and thoroughly enjoyed studying it in medical school in Mumbai, India. She pursed an international elective at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, N.Y., to learn more about the advances in pediatric neurology, which inspired her to undertake further training in the United States. She completed her residency in child neurology at University of Louisville, where she served as chief resident and received the Chairmen’s Achievement Award. Following residency, she pursued additional training at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. Given her interest in pediatric epilepsy, she pursued a fellowship at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where she received specialized training in the management of benign and drug-resistant childhood epilepsies.

Inna Hughes, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Child Neurology and Epilepsy at the University of Rochester. Her clinical interests are both in pediatric epilepsy and general child neurology. Dr. Hughes completed undergraduate studies at Williams College and graduated from Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine after completion of the combined MD, PhD program. She completed her Child Neurology residency training and a Pediatric Epilepsy fellowship at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, NY.

Dr. Hughes is board certified in Neurology with Special Qualification in Child Neurology and board certified in Epilepsy. She is an active member in the American Academy of Neurology, American Epilepsy Society, and the Child Neurology Society. She has several research interests including the development and genetics of childhood onset epilepsy syndromes, dietary therapy in children and teens, transition of care for young adults with epilepsy, and development of teaching and community programs to improve education and awareness for patients with epilepsy.

Dr. Hughes has been active with Epilepsy Alliance America’s founding member organization, Empowering People’s Independence, for several years.

Asfi Rafiuddin, DO is the Director of Adult Epilepsy & Neurology at the Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group Hackensack (New Jersey) division. She is also the Co-Director of Adult Clinical Trials for new antiseizure medications, therapeutics, and epilepsy surgery. Her clinical interests include diagnosing and treating patients with epilepsy, epilepsy surgery, neuromodulation, and women and epilepsy. Dr. Rafiuddin received her medical degree at New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and did her residency and fellowship at George Washington University.

Tracee Ridley-Pryor is a board-certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) in Memphis. She also holds a joint appointment as an Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine at UTHSC. She serves as Director of Research Strategies and Collaboration in the Neuroscience Institute at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. She received her Doctorate in Nursing Practice from UTHSC, Masters in Nursing Administration from the University of Memphis, and Bachelor’s in Science, Nursing, from West Suburban College of Nursing in Oak Park, IL. She is actively engaged in teaching and research at the hospital and UTHSC. Her clinical and research interests include epilepsy, functional neurological disorders, [psychogenic] non-epileptic events (NEE)/[psychogenic] non-epileptic seizures (NES), trauma and stress disorders, mood disorders, including suicide, autism spectrum disorder, tuberous sclerosis complex, Tourette syndrome.

Tracee has served as a member of the Lorna Myers PNES Scholarship Review committee, administered by Epilepsy Alliance America, since 2022.

Dr. Jonathan P. Williams is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine. His research leverages machine learning and community-engaged methods to enhance the detection and prediction of epilepsy outcomes in underrepresented and vulnerable populations. Dr. Williams is dedicated to integrating social determinants of health into healthcare delivery. Clinically, he is focused on the intersection of epilepsy, dementia, and lesion-related epilepsy, with a special interest in social determinants of health.

An active member of the American Epilepsy Society (AES), Dr. Williams contributes to projects aimed at improving care for people with epilepsy (PWE). He is committed to developing integrated care systems that prioritize patient-centered outcomes, advancing health equity, improving access to neurological care, and training the next generation of diverse clinicians.

The National Professional Advisory Committee acknowledges both Michael Smith, MD of the Rush Epilepsy Center in Chicago, Illinois and Marcelo Lancman, MD of the Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group in Hackensack, New Jersey, for their service on the committee since its inception in 2021. Both Dr. Smith and Dr. Lancman were active participants in the group during their terms which ended on December 31, 2024. Epilepsy Alliance America thanks them both for their work on the committee and their continued commitment to our organization.

The full roster of members of the National Professional Advisory Committee can be found here.