Rutgers and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Neurosurgeon Receives $2.9 Million NIH Grant for Epilepsy Research

Hai Sun will launch a study aimed at improving the ability to target the correct area of the brain prior to epilepsy surgery

A Rutgers researcher has received a five-year, $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to identify the areas of the brain that trigger an epileptic seizure so that doctors can know where to target when they perform surgery to eliminate seizures.

Hai Sun, a neurosurgeon at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, a RWJBarnabas Health facility, was awarded a five-year, $2.9 million research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support a study aimed at improving the accuracy of finding the areas of the brain that need attention, for patients who are seeking surgical treatment options for epilepsy.

This is the second grant Sun, also is a professor and assistant director of research, an assistant residency program director and the vice chair of clinical affairs at the medical school and chief of neurosurgery at the hospital, has secured in just two years, for a total of $5.7 million in funding for neurological research and development. In August of 2025, Rutgers and other institutions were awarded $2.8 million over the course of three years from NIH to improve implantable devices for epileptic patients.

Sun's research will use advanced brain monitoring and computational analysis to identify the critical nodes, or choke points, of the brain networks that trigger seizures. The goal is to establish a standardized approach for planning epilepsy surgery, which will help physicians identify the most effective surgical targets to improve outcomes for patients whose seizures can't be controlled with medication.

"If medication is not adequately controlling a patient's seizures, he or she may not be able to drive, work or live independently," Sun said. "It can be very impactful on their well-being and quality of life. Surgery has proven to be effective in eliminating or reducing seizures in patients who do not respond to medications."

While current diagnostic techniques such as scalp and intracranial EEG and MRI are effective in helping clinicians identify areas of the brain that are causing seizures, their precision can be limited.

"Before performing surgery, we need to determine where the seizure is coming from," Sun said. "In some cases, the seizure zone may encompass a large area of the brain. We can't resect - surgically remove - the area of the brain because some of these areas may impact language and motor skills."

He added there is a new focus in epilepsy research and treatment on "the networks of the brain that are causing seizures."

"We hope to identify the critical nodes that are composed of these networks triggering the seizures to determine if they can be safely resected or mitigated through neuromodulation," Sun said. "The goal is to disrupt the nodes transmitting the signals causing the seizures. By targeting these choke points rather than the large area of the brain, we hope to make the surgery safer and more efficacious for the patients."

Neurostimulation (or neuromodulation) treatment for epilepsy is a way of using electrical current to help calm the brain and reduce seizures. Unlike conventional surgery, neurostimulation doesn't require removal of brain tissue and is a good alternative to resection when the targets are important for neurological function.

To define the choke points of these networks, Sun's team will compare intracranial EEG signals from the rest period with those at seizure onset.

"We believe the choke points drive the change from the rest period to a seizure. Focusing on this transition is the innovation of our approach," Sun said.

Using a combination of data from laboratory models and patients, Sun and his team will compare the surgical targets defined using the current methodology with the new approach being developed through his research. If successful, members of the team plan to demonstrate the efficacy of their method through a prospective clinical trial so that it can become standard care for patients being considered for surgery.

The current study will enroll patients at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center and Emory University Hospital. Ezequiel Gleichgerrcht, an assistant professor in neurology at Emory and a co-investigator, will lead the study at the site.

"Surgical treatment is superior to medical treatment," Sun said. "You can only adjust a patient's medication so much. Currently, only about half of the patients being considered for surgery actually receive surgical treatment. And, only about half of patients undergoing surgical treatment are seizure-free. We are aiming to improve these numbers so that more patients can get the treatment they need and more can live without seizures. We are grateful for this grant, which will be critical to our goals."

Funding for this study was provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)'s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, under award number 1RO1NS148383-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.