The Encephalitis Podcast

In this World Encephalitis Day special, Dr Ava Easton is joined by Doctor Tarun Dua, head of the Brain Health Unit at the World Health Organization (WHO). In exciting news for World Encephalitis Day 2025, the World Health Organization are releasing a technical brief on encephalitis. Dr Dua is here to discuss this and a bit more on the work of the World Health Organization. Useful Link - the WHO Intersectoral Global Action Plan (IGAP) on epilepsy and other neurological disorders - https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240076624

 

If you have been affected by encephalitis and are in need of some support, please visit https://www.encephalitis.info/support If you would like to stay up to date with our news and events please sign up to our mailing list here: https://www.encephalitis.info/keep-in-touch Support our work providing help and assistance to families affected by encephalitis by visiting: https://www.encephalitis.info/donate

 

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We are delighted to welcome Bethany Facer and Dr Brendan Sargent to The Encephalitis Podcast. Beth and Brendan talk to host Prav Prathapan about recent research on the neurological effects of Covid-19, including cognitive deficits and long-term effects, and the potential implications for other diseases.

Beth and Brendan also discussed the Covid-19 Clinical Neuroscience Study – a £2.3 million research study looking at the acute neurological and neuropsychiatric complications of Covid-19. This podcast also discusses the future of the Covid-19 Clinical Neuroscience Study, the potential of its data to contribute to understanding cognitive disturbances, and the importance of individualised care and support for those affected by the neurological effects of COVID-19. Links to papers: Posthospitalization COVID-19 cognitive deficits at 1 year are global and associated with elevated brain injury markers and gray matter volume reduction | Nature Medicine Cognitive domains affected post‐COVID‐19; a systematic review and meta‐analysis - Fanshawe - 2025 - European Journal of Neurology - Wiley Online Library

Bethany Facer is a neuroimaging PhD student at the University of Liverpool, focusing on people with newly diagnosed Parkinson’s disease. Bethany is part of the neuroimaging working group for the COVID-Clinical Neuroscience Study and has previously worked on the DexEnceph trial assessing imaging changes in HSV encephalitis. An avid science communicator, she has presented at the Cheltenham Science Festival and has hosted and organised the annual Liverpool Neuroscience Conference.

Brendan Sargent is a junior doctor and clinical research fellow with the Autoimmune Psychosis Group at the University of Oxford. He is part of the neuroimaging working group for the COVID-Clinical Neuroscience Study consortium and has worked with the Infection Neuroscience Lab in Liverpool on the cognitive impacts of COVID-19 illness. He is interested in cognition, neuroimaging and neuroinflammation. For more information about the COVID-CNS study, visit https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/covid-cli...

f you have been affected by encephalitis and are in need of some support, please visit https://www.encephalitis.info/support If you would like to stay up to date with our news and events please sign up to our mailing list here: https://www.encephalitis.info/keep-in-touch Support our work providing help and assistance to families affected by encephalitis by visiting: https://www.encephalitis.info/donate

Follow Encephalitis International:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/encephalitisinternational

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/encephalitisinternational

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/encephalitisinternational

Please note that this episode was recorded in November 2023.

In this episode of The Encephalitis Podcast, Dr Ava Easton is joined by Dr James Sejvar for a discussion around climate change, and how it's affecting our risk for deadly infectious diseases, such as West Nile encephalitis or Japanese encephalitis.

Dr Sejvar is a Neuroepidemiologist at the University of Pittsburgh and, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, USA. At the time of the podcast, he led the Neuroepidemiology Unit at CDC’s Divisions of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology where his work focused on epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical features, and outcomes of infections of the nervous system work which took him all over the world.

He investigated the West Nile virus in the United States, Ebola in Central Africa, Zika in South America, and of course, COVID-19. Dr Sejvar is also a member of the Encephalitis International Scientific Advisory Panel.

This podcast was recorded November 2023 - we have updated information and insights on these infectious diseases to come in April 2025. WATCH this space!

 

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One of our Team Encephalitis volunteers, Nicole, talks to Senior Medical Writer, Praveen, about her lived experience of encephalitis. Nicole was diagnosed with Anti-DPPX receptor encephalitis when she was 20 years old while she was at University. This lead to her needing to abandon her studies to recover. Luckily, Nicole is recovering well and is about to start the final semester of her course just two years later.

 

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In this episode, Dr Ava Easton (CEO of Encephalitis International) is joined by Professor Jonathan Evans - a distinguished expert in clinical neuropsychology at the university of Glasgow. Professor Jon Evans discusses the world of memory and its intersection with encephalitis including the difference between long term, short term memory and false memory, how it's referred to in the medical world and any available support aids.

 

If you have been affected by encephalitis and are in need of some support, please visit https://www.encephalitis.info/contact-our-helpline/

Our support groups are listed here https://www.encephalitis.info/online-support-meetings

If you would like to donate to help fund research, information and support for those affected by encephalitis, please follow this link: https://app.donorfy.com/form/L9J9FR7NZ5/00YAZ

 

Follow Encephalitis International:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/encephalitisinternational/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/encephalitisinternational

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/encephalitisinternational/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@encephalitisint 

Dr Ava Easton, CEO of Encephalitis International interviews the director of the documentary Shot in the Arm, Scott Hamilton Kennedy . Talking about vaccine hesitancy and misinformation. Find more about the film here www.shotinthearm.com and for more information about vaccine preventable forms of encephalitis please visit www.encephalitis.info/vaccine-preventable-encephalitis.

 

If you have been affected by encephalitis and are in need of some support, please visit https://www.encephalitis.info/contact-our-helpline/

Our support groups are listed here https://www.encephalitis.info/online-support-meetings

If you would like to donate to help fund research, information and support for those affected by encephalitis, please follow this link: https://app.donorfy.com/form/L9J9FR7NZ5/00YAZ

Follow Encephalitis International:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/encephalitisinternational/

X: https://twitter.com/encephalitis

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/encephalitisinternational

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/encephalitisinternational/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@encephalitisint 

Dr Ava Easton was joined by Professor Michael Wilson from the Centre of Encephalitis and Meningitis at UCSF to talk about metagenomics and encephalitis.

For more information about Professor Wilson's work please visit https://encephalitis.ucsf.edu/

If you have been affected by encephalitis and are in need of some support, please visit https://www.encephalitis.info/contact-our-helpline/

Our support groups are listed here https://www.encephalitis.info/online-support-meetings

If you would like to donate to help fund research, information and support for those affected by encephalitis, please follow this link: https://app.donorfy.com/form/L9J9FR7NZ5/00YAZ

Follow Encephalitis International:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/encephalitisinternational/

X: https://twitter.com/encephalitis

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/encephalitisinternational

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/encephalitisinternational/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@encephalitisint 

TRIGGER WARNING: In this podcast episode, Dr Ava Easton CEO Encephalitis International, talks with Prof Arun Venkatesan about the difficult topic of death from encephalitis. This is something which will be sadly and unfortunately familiar to many families and friends who's loved ones have fallen ill from this condition.

If you have been affected by encephalitis and are in need of some support, please visit https://www.encephalitis.info/contact-our-helpline/

Our support groups are listed here https://www.encephalitis.info/online-support-meetings

Read more information about death from encephalitis on our website https://www.encephalitis.info/effects-of-encephalitis/death-from-encephalitis

If you would like to donate to help fund research, information and support for those affected by encephalitis, please follow this link: https://app.donorfy.com/form/L9J9FR7NZ5/00YAZ

Follow Encephalitis International

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/encephalitisinternational/

X: https://twitter.com/encephalitis

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/encephalitisinternational

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/encephalitisinternational/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@encephalitisint 

In our final episode of 2023, Dr Ava Easton, host of the Encephalitis Podcast, talks to Phillippa Chapman, Deputy Chief Executive of Encephalitis international, and Bella Bardswell, co-founder of Stellafai.

The trio talk about the monumental decision to change the name of the Encephalitis Society to Encephalitis International, the reasons and thinking behind the strategic evolution, and what comes next as we celebrate our 30th anniversary in 2024.

For more information about Encephalitis International, https://www.encephalitis.info/ 

If you have been affected by encephalitis and are in need of some support, please visit https://www.encephalitis.info/contact-our-helpline/

If you have been affected by encephalitis and would like to become a member of the society, you can sign up here (membership is free and global): https://www.encephalitis.info/become-a-member/

If you would like to donate to help fund research, information and support for those affected by encephalitis, please follow this link: https://app.donorfy.com/form/L9J9FR7NZ5/00YAZ

Follow Encephalitis International Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/encephalitisinternational/

X: https://twitter.com/encephalitis

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/encephalitisinternational

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/encephalitisinternational/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@encephalitisinternational

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@encephalitisint

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@encephalitisinternational

 

Dr Lance Turtle joins The Encephalitis Podcast to talk about the Japanese encephalitis virus and its impact on Australia over the past 12 months.

Lance is a Reader and Honorary Consultant Physician in Infectious Diseases at the University of Liverpool.

As always, the questions are asked by our host, Dr Ava Easton, Chief Executive of the Encephalitis Society.

The Encephalitis Podcast is available on all podcast channels and on our YouTube channel.

For more information about Dr Lance Turtle: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/infection-veterinary-and-ecological-sciences/staff/lance-turtle/ 

If you have been affected by encephalitis and are in need of some support, please visit https://www.encephalitis.info/support

For more information about Japanese encephalitis, visit https://www.encephalitis.info/japaneseencephalitis 

If you have been affected by encephalitis and would like to become a member of the society, you can sign up here (membership is free and global): https://www.encephalitis.info/Pages/Category/membership

If you would like to donate to help fund research, information and support for those affected by encephalitis, please follow this link: https://www.encephalitis.info/donate/

Follow the Encephalitis Society:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EncephalitisSociety/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/encephalitis

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_encephalitis_society_/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-encephalitis-society