Perth neurologist Dr John Dunne has been recognised with an International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Ambassador for Epilepsy Award for his outstanding contribution to activities advancing the cause of epilepsy at an international level.

Dr Dunne is committed to promoting epilepsy in the Asian and Oceanic region and is chairman of the Asian Epilepsy Academy (ASEPA).

He has been dedicated to EEG teaching in countries across the region including China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Timor Leste, Mongolia, Korea, India, Japan, The Philippines, Bangladesh, Laos and Vietnam.

In recognition of his commitment to training he was also made a member of the ILAE Faculty of Five Hundred – an international faculty of professionals with recognized expertise and commitment to educational activities in epileptology.

Dr Dunne’s nomination was fully supported by the Epilepsy Society of Australia.

His colleague Dr Andrew Bleasel told the limbic that the Ambassador for Epilepsy Award was a prestigious honour that recognises a substantial body of work.

“He is incredibly devoted to teaching in the region. A lot of his work is teaching in Southeast Asia at symposia that he has organised. It’s very much his mission.”

“He can’t change the economics in those places. He can’t change the terrible inequalities in terms of what resources are available to them. But much of the management of epilepsy doesn’t require really expensive resources. Even the drugs like phenobarb work perfectly well. One of the key things is getting the diagnosis right and then some basic management principles and that’s where education can transform things in those countries.”

“If you can be speaking to a group of neurologists that represent the majority of the neurologists in the country, you can really transform the care of people with epilepsy.”

Dr Dunne is immediate past-president and currently on the national committee of the Epilepsy Society of Australia. He is also chairman of the EEG and Clinical Neurophysiology Committee of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists (ANZAN).