Mendoza Awarded Prestigious American Epilepsy Society Fellowship 

Aug. 5, 2025 - UC Irvine biomedical engineering doctoral student Trisha Mendoza has received a predoctoral research fellowship from the American Epilepsy Society (AES) in support of her work to help individuals living with epilepsy. The AES collaborates with a broad range of scientists and advocates to deepen the knowledge of understanding, treatments and cures for epilepsy. The society supports early career investigators, highlighting the value of the full spectrum of epilepsy research. 

Mendoza received $30,000 for her research in the macro and micro scales of seizure dynamics. Her work is conducted at the Samueli School of Engineering alongside her adviser Beth Lopour, associate professor of biomedical engineering. By leveraging computational methods and neural data collected directly from patients, Mendoza can accurately identify the brain region responsible for generating seizures. This identification offers valuable improvements and precision to epilepsy research.  

“Our goal is to support clinicians in surgical planning,” Mendoza said. “This ultimately increases the likelihood of achieving seizure freedom for patients undergoing surgery.” 

Current statistics find that approximately 50 percent of patients who undergo surgical removal of the seizure-generating region in the brain continue to experience seizures. Mendoza says this proves there is a critical need for more accurate tools to guide surgical decision making.  

A key focus of her research includes information on quantifying traveling waves that occur during seizures to identify their source. In analyzing these patterns, Mendoza has discovered activity including spirals, sources and sinks that, until now, have only been observed in animal models. Mendoza will present her findings at this year’s AES conference in Atlanta.  

– Cassandra Nava