Alex Johnson, FRACP
Pathological findings in refractory temporal lobe epilepsy: correlations with clinical phenomenology and epilepsy outcomes
After doing her general training, Alex trained in paediatric neurology mostly at Sydney Children’s Hospital but also at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead in Sydney. She completed her training as a paediatric neurologist in 2012. She has been doing paediatric neurology rooms as well as her postgraduate degree.
Interview by Russell Dale, 20 November 2013
Alex, thanks for speaking to me, how the devil are you?
Good thanks, I am currently feeding my 2 month old baby Emma.
Ehm….so not too busy then….ready? When did you start your Masters by research?
Early 2012, and I hope to finish my thesis in a few months.
Can you give us an overview of your project?
Sure, my project aims to examine the pathology in temporal lobe specimens resected from 73 adult and paediatric patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy. I am correlating the pathological findings with the clinical phenomenology and the epilepsy outcomes.
Fantastic, and who are your supervisors?
A/Prof Annie Bye, Prof Anne Cunningham and Dr Ella Sugo from Sydney Children’s Hospital and University of New South Wales. They have been great.
What are the main skills you have learnt in your study?
I mainly wanted to understand the research process, but I have also learnt a lot about pathology, classification systems, research methodology and statistics which has been really useful.
Are you trying to publish your data?
Yes, the paper is currently with Epilepsia.
Good luck!
If someone were to ask you about doing a postgraduate degree, what advise would you give them?
Make sure you chose your supervisor wisely, and be part of a research team, because support is very important.
What is harder, doing a postgraduate degree, or having a 2 month old baby?
Uhm….doing a postgraduate degree….!
Ha ha. Thanks again Alex and good luck with everything.
Cheers