Lori Isom, PhD – Board Co-Chair University of Michigan Medical Center
Dr. Isom is the Maurice H. Seevers Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology, Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, and Professor of Neurology, and Faculty Chair for Women’s Careers at the University of Michigan Medical School. Prior to becoming Chair of Pharmacology she served as Director of the Program in Biomedical Sciences and Assistant Dean for Graduate Education in the University of Michigan Medical School. She received her PhD in Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and then trained as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. William A. Catterall at the University of Washington. Dr. Isom’s postdoctoral research included the first cloning, sequencing, and expression of voltage-gated sodium channel SCN1B and SCN2B, encoding the β1 and β2 subunits, respectively.
Dr. Isom’s research group has played a critical role in using translational strategies to model and find treatment for a rare form of infantile epilepsy known as Dravet syndrome that increases risk for Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). The syndrome has been linked to loss-of-function variants in the SCN1A gene that result in haploinsufficiency of NaV1.1 channels in all neurons in brain, but especially in GABAergic interneurons. Decreased excitation of GABA interneurons, or disinhibition, can lead to neuronal hyper-excitability and seizures as well as impact brainstem control of respiratory and cardiac centers. Dr. Isom’s research program focuses on the physiology and pharmacology of voltage-gated sodium channels and the roles of sodium channel gene variants in developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE), including Dravet syndrome. Her lab investigates SCN1A, SCN1B, and SCN8A DEE variants in mouse models and in human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) neurons and cardiac myocytes. They developed the first large transgenic animal model of Dravet syndrome, a Scn1a haploinsufficient rabbit. Their body of work has provided preclinical evidence for neuro-cardiac mechanisms of SUDEP. Dr. Isom collaborated with Stoke Therapeutics to develop the first antisense oligonucleotide precision therapeutic agent for Dravet syndrome, zorevunersen, which is now in clinical trials.
Dr. Isom’s lab has published over 130 articles and received $25 million in funding to investigate genetic links between neuronal excitability and epileptic encephalopathy.
In addition to her research activities, Dr. Isom serves as Co-PI of the NINDS-funded EpiMVP Center Without Walls. She serves as PI of the NIH funded, Pharmacological Sciences Training Program T32 grant, chairs the Dravet Syndrome Foundation Scientific Advisory Board, served on the Board of the American Epilepsy Society, co-chairs theAmerican Epilepsy Society-NINDS Benchmarks committee, chaired the NIH ESTA study section, as well as served on editorial boards of scientific journals. She has received awards for research and mentoring, including a NINDS Javits R37 MERIT award and the University of Michigan Rackham Distinguished Graduate Mentoring Award. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and a Fellow of the American Epilepsy Society. Dr. Isom was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2021 and received the American Epilepsy Society Basic Science Research Award in 2022.
